Tammy Allen

Tammy is an experienced public health practitioner, researcher and dedicated educator with 25 years experience working in the public health field. Tammy has worked and conducted research in rural, remote and tropical communities in Australia and the Pacific. Her specific expertise is in social and behavioural science related to mosquito-borne disease control, and health system strengthening through public health emergency operation centre management. She has sustained global leadership in both these areas.

Since 2021, Tammy has been a member of the World Health Organization's, Technical Advisory Group (TAG-Arbovirus) to support countries implementing the Global Arbovirus Initiative. She provides high-level technical input and advice on behaviour change, social science, and communications related to Aedes mosquito management and has contributed to global frameworks, policy briefs and guidelines including the WHO Risk Communication and Community Engagement Readiness and Response Toolkit: Dengue Fever. 2024; the WHO Risk Communication and Community Engagement Readiness and Response Toolkit: Zika Virus (2024) and the draft Global Arbovirus Initiative (2025-2030).

In addition, and separate to the above work, Tammy has been an advisor (temporary) and consultant to the World Health Organization's Emergency Operations Centre Network (EOC-NET), Geneva, since 2014. She was one of the founding contributors to the now globally recognized Best Practice Guidelines 'Framework for a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre' (2015). Since this publication, she has contributed to guidelines, frameworks and research including the 'Handbook for developing a public health emergency operations centre, Part A – policies, plans, procedures', & Part C – training and exercise; and the WHO Systematic Review of Public Health Emergency Operation Plans and Procedures. In 2021, she was commissioned to lead a scoping review, and global cross-sectional survey on the barriers and enablers to using EOCs in public health emergency management. This work underpinned the updated version of the Framework for PHEOC (to be published).

Tammy has been an invited speaker to global audiences in the WHO AFRO, SEARO and EURO Regions, presenting guidance, research and chairing panel discussions. Examples include:

Guest speaker invitations

2024 - 'Community Engagement and Arbovirus Control', Fondation Merieux Meeting, France.

2024- 'Citizen Science and Medical Entomology' World Health Organization TAG-Arbovirus Meeting, France.

2024-'Communication for Behavioural Impact in Dengue Fever Outbreak Response'. WHO-AFRO Dengue Fever Webinar Series.

2023-'Communication for Behavioural Impact in Dengue Fever Outbreak Response'. WHO-SEARO Dengue Outbreak Control Webinar Series.  

2023-‘Best practice community engagement in Arbovirus control in the Asia-Pacific Region’. WHO TAG Arbovirus Meeting, Ghana.

2019- Invited chair - panel discussion: Emergency Operations Centers, Research and Innovation, WHO Health Emergency Operation Centres Network Meeting, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

2017-‘Community Engagement and Risk Communication' Health and Humanitarian Action in Emergencies Course, Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, Hawaii (presented in Cairns)

Expert contributor/temporary advisor:

Tammy has been an expert contributor/temporary advisor to many global meetings including:

WHO EOC-NET Working Group/Annual Meetings: Geneva (2015,2016,2017); Chiang Mai (2019); Dubai (2024).

WHO TAG-Arbovirus Meetings: Ghana (2023); France (2024)

Asia-Europe Foundation and European Centre Disease Control: How can we better prepared for the next global health threat: planning & implementing risk communication. Sweden (2016)

Awards

2020 - Team Lead, JCU Citation Teaching Award

2017 - First Author, Best Paper: Journal of Tropical Medicine and Health : Impact of the Lymphatic Filariasis Control Program towards elimination of filariasis in Vanuatu: 1997-2006.

Conference Presentations

2023 - Oral Presentation - Factors influencing community participation approaches in Aedes management in the Torres Strait, 15th Mosquito Control Association of Australia Conference, Brisbane

2023 - Poster Presentation - Aedes mosquito management in the Torres Strait: what is impeding a community-based model of practice? 2nd Annual Southern Cross Tropical Medicine Conference, Sydney, Australia

2021 - Poster Presentation - The buzz factors influencing community engagement in Aedes aegypti management in north Queensland. Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Symposium, Cairns, Australia

2019 - Poster Presentation ‘Gaps and Opportunities in EOC Research’, WHO Health Emergency Operation Centres Network Meeting, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2019 - Allen, T, Crouch, A, Topp, SM. Mosquito-borne disease and community engagement in high-income countries: scoping review. Global Health Security Conference. Sydney, Australia (Poster Presentation)

2014 - Spencer, R, Allen, T. ‘Systematic Review of PHEOC Plans and Procedures’, First Public Health Emergency Operation Centre Framework Meeting, WHO, Geneva (Oral Presentation).

2014 - Spencer, R. Allen, T. Using a disaster management system to respond to public health emergencies, Australasian Tropical Health Conference, Cairns, Australia (Oral Presentation)

2011 - Allen, T. Long, S. Dengue Fever Social Mobilisation Pilot Project, Australian Health Promotion Association Conference, Cairns, Australia.