Rebecca Traub is Chair Professor of Parasitology and Head, Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health at City University Hong Kong. Rebecca graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from Murdoch University, Western Australia in 1997, and subsequently worked in companion animal practice. In 2004, she was awarded a PhD in veterinary epidemiology and public health (Murdoch University) for which she was awarded the John Adrian Sprent Prize by the Australian Society for Parasitology. Following this she was successful at attracting a 3-year Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Industry Fellowship (Murdoch University). In 2007, she gained employment as a Lecturer in Veterinary Public Health at the University of Queensland and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2010. In 2014 Rebecca moved to the University of Melbourne as an Associate Professor of Veterinary Parasitology (2014-2017) and was promoted to Full Professor in 2018. In 2021, Rebecca was awarded a Future Fellowship by the Australian Research Council.
Rebecca’s research expertise has been formally recognized through expert consultations for the World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), The Gates Foundation, the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, and not-for-profit organisations. In 2015, Rebecca founded the Tropical Council for Companion Animal Parasites, a non-for-profit organisation whose mission is to independently inform best practice recommendations for the diagnosis, treatment and control of companion animal parasites in the tropics. In 2018, Rebecca was elected ‘Leader in the Field of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology’ in Australia by the League of Scholars (The Australian, Research Stars of 2018), and in 2019, Rebecca was awarded the Bancroft Mackerras Medal for Excellence by the Australian Society for Parasitology. She served as President of the Australian Society for Parasitology from 2021-2023 and currently serves as Vice President.
Professor Rebecca Traub’s research encompasses the field of veterinary public health, with an emphasis on the epidemiology and control of parasitic zoonoses, human geo-helminthiasis and rickettsial zoonoses. Much of her research involves the development and/or application of molecular-based diagnostic techniques to detect parasites directly from clinical samples. Her research has led to novel discoveries about parasite epidemiology, distribution and zoonotic potential. She has published over 187 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters on the epidemiology, zoonotic potential and geographical distribution of parasites of veterinary and public health importance in the Asia and the Pacific which have been cited over 10,000 times (h-index 54). Rebecca has supervised over 26 postdoctoral research fellows and PhD students to completion, and attracted HK$ 50 million in external competitive research funding as primary or chief investigator.
Pierce, D.R., M. McDonald, L. Merone, L. Becker, F. Thompson, C. Lewis, R.Y.M. Ryan, S.F. Hii, P.A. Zendejas-Heredia, R.J. Traub, M.A. Field, T. Rahman, J. Croese, A. Loukas, R. McDermott, and P.R. Giacomin, Effect of experimental hookworm infection on insulin resistance in people at risk of type 2 diabetes. Nature Communications, 2023. 14(1):4503. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40263-4 10.1038/s41467-023-40263-4.
Le, B., M.A.A. Monteiro, S. Amaral, H. Wand, A. Matthews, S.F. Hii, N.E. Clarke, P. Arkell, J. Yan, D. Engelman, N. Fancourt, J.L. Fernandes, A. Steer, J. Kaldor, R. Traub, J.R. Francis, and S.V. Nery, The impact of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine citrate, and albendazole mass drug administration on the prevalence of scabies and soil-transmitted helminths in school-aged children in three municipalities in Timor-Leste: a before-after assessment. Lancet Global Health, 2023. 11(6):e924-e932. DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00134-1 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00134-1.
Huggins, L.G., V. Colella, U. Atapattu, A.V. Koehler, and R.J. Traub, Nanopore Sequencing Using the Full-Length 16S rRNA Gene for Detection of Blood-Borne Bacteria in Dogs Reveals a Novel Species of Hemotropic Mycoplasma. Microbiology Spectrum, 2022. 10(6):e0308822. DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03088-22 10.1128/spectrum.03088-22.
Le, B., N. Clarke, S.F. Hii, A. Byrne, P.A. Zendejas-Heredia, S. Lake, O. Sokana, A. Khattak, L. Romani, D. Engelman, T. Nasi, D. Boara, J. Kaldor, A. Steer, R. Traub, and S.V. Nery, Using quantitative PCR to identify opportunities to strengthen soil-transmitted helminth control in Solomon Islands: A cross-sectional epidemiological survey. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2022. 16(5):e0010350. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010350 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010350.
Zendejas-Heredia, P.A., V. Colella, M.L.A. Macpherson, W. Sylvester, R.B. Gasser, C.N.L. Macpherson, and R.J. Traub, Ancylostoma ceylanicum Hookworms in Dogs, Grenada, West Indies. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2022. 28(9):1870-1872. DOI: 10.3201/eid2809.220634 10.3201/eid2809.220634.
Colella, V., R. Bradbury, and R. Traub, Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Trends in Parasitology, 2021. 37(9):844-845. DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.04.013 10.1016/j.pt.2021.04.013.
Colella, V., V. Khieu, A. Worsley, D. Senevirathna, S. Muth, R. Huy, P. Odermatt, and R.J. Traub, Risk profiling and efficacy of albendazole against the hookworms Necator americanus and Ancylostoma ceylanicum in Cambodia to support control programs in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, 2021. 16:100258. DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100258 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100258.
Zendejas-Heredia, P.A., V. Colella, S.F. Hii, and R.J. Traub, Comparison of the egg recovery rates and limit of detection for soil-transmitted helminths using the Kato-Katz thick smear, faecal flotation and quantitative real-time PCR in human stool. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2021. 15(5):e0009395. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009395
Massetti, L., V. Colella, P.A. Zendejas, D. Ng-Nguyen, L. Harriott, L. Marwedel, A. Wiethoelter, and R.J. Traub, High-throughput multiplex qPCRs for the surveillance of zoonotic species of canine hookworms. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2020. 14(6):e0008392. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008392 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008392.
Ng-Nguyen, D., S.F. Hii, M.T. Hoang, V.T. Nguyen, R. Rees, J. Stenos, and R.J. Traub, Domestic dogs are mammalian reservoirs for the emerging zoonosis flea-borne spotted fever, caused by Rickettsia felis. Scientific Reports, 2020. 10(1):4151. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61122-y 10.1038/s41598-020-61122-y.
Huggins, L.G., A.V. Koehler, D. Ng-Nguyen, S. Wilcox, B. Schunack, T. Inpankaew, and R.J. Traub, A novel metabarcoding diagnostic tool to explore protozoan haemoparasite diversity in mammals: a proof-of-concept study using canines from the tropics. Sci Rep, 2019. 9(1):12644. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-49118-9 10.1038/s41598-019-49118-9.