Rate My Professor Frances Graham

Frances Graham is a public health researcher associated with the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington campus, where she served as a PhD student in the Health Environment & Infection Research Unit (HEIRU). She was awarded her PhD in 2024 by the University of Otago, Dunedin, for her thesis entitled "A study of Legionellosis epidemiology and alternative environmental risk factors for the disease in New Zealand." Her research centers on the epidemiology of legionellosis, also known as Legionnaires' disease, caused by Legionella bacteria. Graham's work investigates incidence trends following improved diagnostics, direct healthcare costs of hospitalizations, environmental surveillance practices, and associations with meteorological factors and air pollution in New Zealand from 2000 to 2020. She has contributed to identifying alternative environmental risk factors beyond traditional sources like cooling towers, including those related to earthquake-induced soil disturbances.

Throughout her academic career, Graham has produced a substantial body of peer-reviewed publications focused on legionellosis. Prominent among them are "Increased Incidence of Legionellosis after Improved Diagnostic Methods, New Zealand, 2000–2020" (Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2023), "Epidemiology and direct health care costs of hospitalised legionellosis in New Zealand, 2000–2020" (Infection, Disease & Health, 2023), "Environmental Investigation and Surveillance for Legionella in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2000-2020" (Current Microbiology, 2023), "Associations between meteorological factors, air pollution and Legionnaires’ disease in New Zealand: Time series analysis" (Atmospheric Environment, 2023), and "Global Perspective of Legionella Infection in Community-Acquired Pneumonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies" (2022). Earlier works include studies on legionellosis post-Christchurch earthquakes (2017), changing trends (1979-2009, 2011), and global seroprevalence (2020). With 266 citations on ResearchGate, her contributions have influenced infectious disease research and public health practices in environmental health surveillance.