Rate My Professor Rosalina Sa’aga-Banuve

Dr. Rosalina Sa’aga-Banuve serves as a Senior Lecturer in the Australian National University’s College of Health and Medicine. Affiliated with the Department of Applied Epidemiology in the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH) within the Research School of Population Health (RSPH), she joined ANU in October 2021. As the Pac-EVIPP+ Team Leader and a Senior Fellow in the Master of Applied Epidemiology (MAE) program, she plays a pivotal role in advancing public health training and research in the Pacific region. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSci) and Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Tasmania, a Diploma in Child Health from the Fiji School of Medicine, and a Master of Medicine in Paediatrics from the University of the South Pacific. Prior to ANU, Dr. Sa’aga-Banuve held significant leadership positions in Fiji’s health sector, such as Program Director for the Fiji Health Sector Support Program (FHSSP) supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, positions with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Fiji, and National Coordinator for Phase Three of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) in Suva.

Dr. Sa’aga-Banuve’s research specializations and academic interests center on maternal and child health, health systems strengthening, tropical diseases, epidemiology, and public health workforce development. She is the Principal Investigator for the Pacific Evidence for Informed Policies and Programs Plus (Pac-EVIPP+), a key initiative under the Indo-Pacific Health Security Initiative that aims to strengthen evidence-informed decision-making and applied epidemiology capacity in Pacific Island countries through training programs like the Postgraduate Certificate in Field Epidemiology (PGCFE) and MAE fellowships. Additionally, she contributes as a researcher to the Timor-Leste Bacteria, Enteropathy and Nutrition (BEN) program. Her scholarly output includes co-authorship on “Epidemiology of Buruli Ulcer in Victoria, Australia, 2017–2022,” published in Emerging Infectious Diseases in 2025. Dr. Sa’aga-Banuve actively influences the field through regional engagements, such as co-facilitating discussions at Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN) meetings in 2025, presenting Pac-EVIPP+ contributions, and supervising epidemiology trainees from Samoa, Vanuatu, and other nations. Registered to supervise ANU research students, her efforts have substantial impact on building sustainable epidemiological expertise and enhancing health security across the Pacific.