David Price

• David Price

  Associate Professor

  david.price1@unimelb.edu.au
  

Research Overview

The Infectious Diseases Biostatistics & Analytics group are experts in statistical and analytical methods for infection and immunity research. We work across the full spectrum of research — from laboratory experiments to epidemiological studies and clinical trials — partnering with research groups, public health agencies, and clinical trialists to develop and implement solutions for complex biological, clinical and public health questions.

Our core expertise spans Bayesian methods and adaptive design, clinical trial design and delivery, statistical analysis of biological data, mathematical modelling, and optimised resource allocation for trials and public health surveillance. We develop novel statistical methodology where existing fit-for-purpose methods do not exist.

Staff

• Dr Chaya Weerasinghe
• Ms Niamh Meagher
• Ms Peta Edler
• Ms Megan Hawkins

Funding

• University of Melbourne, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship (2025–27)
• NHMRC Centres of Research Excellence “Australian Centre for Epidemic Forecasting & Analytics (ACEFA)” (2025–29)
• ARC Discovery Project “Optimising disease surveillance to support decision-making” (2024–26)
• NHMRC Clinical Trials & Cohort Grant "ISAAC - Invasive Streptococcus A: a randomised control trial of antibiotic prophylaxis for contact management” (2024–28)
• NHMRC Ideas Grant “Multispecies malaria transmission modelling to inform policy" (2023–26)
• World Health Organization, technical partnership on 'Unity Studies' transmission investigations and CoViNet genomic sequencing ‘rightsizing’ (multiple contracts since 2021)

Research Publications

1. Lydeamore MJ, Zachreson C, Conway E, Shearer FM, Baker CM, Ross JV, Miller JC, McCaw JM, Geard N†, McVernon J†, Price DJ† (2026) Border quarantine, vaccination and public health measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 importations: a modelling study. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 23(235):20250144.
2. Tully MK, Dini S, Flegg JA, McCarthy JS, Price DJ†, Simpson JA† (2024) Evaluation of a Bayesian hierarchical pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model for predicting parasitological outcomes in Phase 2 studies of new antimalarial drugs. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 68(9): e00863-24.
3. Edler P, Schwab L, Aban M, Wille M, Spirason N, Deng YM, Carlock MA, Ross TM, Juno JA, Rockman S, Wheatley AK, Kent SJ, Barr IG, Price DJ, Koutsakos M (2024) Differential cross-reactivity to the influenza B virus haemagglutinin underpins lineage-specific susceptibility between birth cohorts. Nature Microbiology, 9(8): 2073–2083.
4. Harrison LE, Flegg JA, Tobin R, Inke L, Rintis N, Grigg MJ, Shearer FM†, Price DJ† (2024) A multicriteria framework for disease surveillance site selection: case study for Plasmodium knowlesi malaria in Indonesia. Royal Society Open Science, 11: 230641.
5. Tobin R, Wood JG, Jayasundara D, Sara G, Walker C, Martin G, McCaw JM, Shearer FM, Price DJ (2023) Hospital length of stay in a mixed Omicron and Delta epidemic in New South Wales, Australia. BMC Infectious Diseases, 23(1): 1–12.
6. Price DJ, Bean NG, Ross JV, Tuke J. An Induced Natural Selection Heuristic for Finding Optimal Bayesian Experimental Designs. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, 126: 112–124.