Asha Bowen

Associate Professor Asha Bowen is an Australian Paediatric Infectious Diseases clinician-scientist and a leading voice and advocate for children's health and well-being.[1][2] She is Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Perth Children's Hospital, Head of the Healthy Skin and ARF Prevention team and Program Head of the End Rheumatic Heart Disease (END RHD) program at the Telethon Kids Institute.[3] Bowen leads a large body of skin health research in partnership with healthcare workers and community in the Kimberley[4] while expanding her team and work to understand skin health in urban Aboriginal children better. She has been widely acknowledged and awarded for her contributions towards improving the health and well-being of Australian children, and addressing existing health inequities faced by First Nations Australian children and their families. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic she contributed her knowledge and expertise to clinical research, guideline development and on several national committees. She has published widely in the area of paediatric infectious diseases and is a recognized expert in the field who regularly contributes to popular Australian media sources such as The Conversation.[2]

Education

After completing her medical studies at the University of Sydney, Bowen was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) as a paediatric infectious diseases specialist in 2009.[1][3] She obtained her PhD at the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin in 2014 for her thesis titled "The skin sore trial: exploring a better treatment option for impetigo in Indigenous children living in remote Australia" under the supervision of Jonathon Carapetis.[5] Her doctoral work involved the development and delivery of the first randomized controlled trial of treatment options for impetigo amongst remote living Indigenous Australian children, and, one of the largest impetigo trials in the world.[5]

Career, research, community engagement and impact

Bowen is an expert on Streptococcus pyogenes and Staphylococcus aureus infections which, if left untreated, can lead to life-threatening complications including sepsis, glomerulonephritis and rheumatic fever.[6] She is a lead author of the 2018 "National Healthy Skin Guideline: for the Prevention and Public Health Control of Impetigo, Scabies, Crusted Scabies, and Tinea for Indigenous Populations and Communities in Australia - 1st edition".[6][7] This guideline is designed to support healthcare professionals, including medical, nursing, allied health and Aboriginal healthcare providers, in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these infections.[6] It has been endorsed by The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Public Health Association Australia, Rheumatic Heart Disease Australia, The Lowitja Institute, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.[6] She has been involved in research that examined the utilization of rapid molecular point-of-care tests to detect and treat Strep A pharyngitis (strep throat) in remote settings to prevent sequalae.[8][9]

Bowen has been vocal about antimicrobial stewardship and antibiotic resistance issues affecting Indigenous communities residing remote Australia.[10][11] She has also spoken publicly about shortages in the supply of essential antibiotics, specifically oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole syrup formulations, needed to treat school sores in Aboriginal children.[11][12]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Bowen has been a leading voice on children's health and well-being. She has advocated for keeping schools open and prioritizing vaccination for teachers and school staff alongside other measures of control such as rapid antigen testing protocols.[13][14] Bowen has contributed to recommendations on the clinical care of children and adolescents with COVID-19 as part of the Australian National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce.[15]

Bowen is the lead investigator on the SToP (See Treat and Prevent) skin sores and scabies Trial which aims to strengthen skin health practices in partnership with healthcare workers and community in the Kimberley.[4][16] Her research seeks to address the gap in infectious skin conditions between Aboriginal children and other Australian children. Bowen says “I would like to see that Aboriginal children in our country are no more likely to have skin infections and the sequelae of those, such as rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease or sepsis than any other children. Working in partnership with Aboriginal people and communities to achieve this, and listening for guidance and opportunities to include a strengths based approach is important'.[1]

Bowen is also lead researcher for the "Staph aureus Network Adaptive Platform Paediatrics and Youth" (SNAP-PY) trial which commenced in February 2022 and will involve 7,000 children and adults across more than 100 hospitals in six countries.[17][18] The trial aims to identify the most effective treatments for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection.[18]

Through her work as a clinician and researcher, Bowen provides supervision and mentoring to RACP Clinical Trainees and higher-degree research students across the University of Western Australia and Notre Dame University.[3]

Awards and honours
  • 2018 L'Oreal-UNCESCO For Women in Science Australia and New Zealand Fellowship[19]
  • 2019 Bayer Australia Medical Research Establishment Fellowship[20]
  • 2019 Australian Institute of Policy and Science Tall Poppy Award[21]
  • 2020 Eureka Prize Emerging Leader in Science[22]
  • 2022 Frank Fenner Award for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases[23]

National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)[24]

  • 2010 National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship
  • 2015 National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship
  • 2017 National Health and Medical Research Council Project Grant
  • 2020 National Health and Medical Research Council Investigator Grant
  • 2021 National Health and Medical Research Council Synergy Grant (CIB)
  • 2021 National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials and Cohort Studies grant (CIA)

References
  1. "RACP Fellows in Focus: A/Prof Asha Bowen". The Royal Australasian College of Physicians. RACP. 12 Jul 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  2. "Asha Bowen". The Conversation. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  3. "Associate Professor Asha Bowen - Telethon Kids Institute". www.telethonkids.org.au. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  4. "The SToP (See, Treat, Prevent) Skin Sores and Scabies Trial - Telethon Kids Institute". www.telethonkids.org.au. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  5. "The skin sore trial". Charles Darwin University. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  6. "National Healthy Skin Guideline". infectiousdiseases.telethonkids.org.au. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
  7. "National guideline to tackle record rates of skin infection | RHD Action". rhdaction.org. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  8. Pickering, Janessa L.; Barth, Dylan D.; Bowen, Asha C. (2020-09-08). "Performance and Practicality of a Rapid Molecular Test for the Diagnosis of Strep A Pharyngitis in a Remote Australian Setting". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 103 (6): 2530–2532. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.20-0341. ISSN 0002-9637. PMC 7695100. PMID 32901604.
  9. "6 min Strep A test suitable for remote settings". www.labonline.com.au. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  10. Use, Admin (2019-06-18). "Antibiotic resistance in remote Indigenous communities up to 50 percent". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  11. Dery, Mikaela (2019-05-31). "Antibiotic shortages impact the health of Indigenous children". Australian Pharmacist. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  12. Administration, Australian Government Department of Health Therapeutic Goods (2014-05-26). "Medicine Shortages Information Initiative". Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  13. "How does Omicron affect kids? The experts have some reassuring findings". ABC News. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  14. "For the sake of the 'forgotten voices' of the pandemic, reopen Australia's schools". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2022-01-11. Retrieved 2022-04-10.
  15. Navarro, David Fraile; Tendal, Britta; Tingay, David; Vasilunas, Nan; Anderson, Lorraine; Best, James; Burns, Penelope; Cheyne, Saskia; Craig, Simon S.; Erickson, Simon J.; Fancourt, Nicholas SS (2021-10-25). "Clinical care of children and adolescents with COVID‐19: recommendations from the National COVID‐19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce". Medical Journal of Australia. 216 (5). ISSN 0025-729X.
  16. "Trial aims to SToP skin infections". Broome Advertiser. 2018-09-28. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  17. "Staph infections can be deadly for Australian children. A new study is trying to find the best treatment". ABC News. 2022-05-25. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  18. "SNAP trial". 2022.
  19. "Past & Present Fellows". www.forwomeninscience.com.au. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  20. Physicians, The Royal Australasian College of, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, retrieved 2022-04-10
  21. "Associate Professor Asha Bowen". AIPS. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  22. Steel, Cassie (2020-11-24). "Talented, much? This year's Eureka Prize winners are next level". Careers with STEM. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  23. "Leading Western Australian paediatric infectious diseases specialist honoured with Frank Fenner Award". ASID | Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
  24. "Improving Health Outcomes in the Tropical North: Case Study | NHMRC". www.nhmrc.gov.au. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
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