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Contact Details

Email
julie.bennett@otago.ac.nz
Position
Research Associate Professor
Department
Department of Public Health (Wellington)
Qualifications
BSc, DPH, MPH, PhD
Research summary
Housing and health

Research

Dr Julie Bennett is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health in Wellington. She has a wide range of public health research interests, with a particular focus on infectious diseases, indoor air quality, housing and health. Her research activities currently have a strong focus on group A streptococcal infections, acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.

Julie is the lead researcher of SCIP RHD, a Trans-Tasman collaboration trialling subcutaneous infusions of benzathine penicillin for prevention of rheumatic heart disease. Julie also leads the “Isolate study” which aims to establish if group A streptococcal isolates detected prior to rheumatic fever differ from those collected on hospital admission. Julie project manages the “Endgame” project, led by Professor Michael Baker, which aims to develop an optimal strategy for ending rheumatic fever in New Zealand and the “START” study, led by Dr Nikki Moreland that aims to develop and validate biomarkers that may form the basis for a rheumatic fever blood test. Julie is a member of Pū Manawa (Rheumatic fever network Aotearoa New Zealand) and the World Health Organization ARF and RHD guideline development group.

Julie is a member of He Kainga Oranga (Housing and Health Research Programme), which was awarded the Rutherford Medal in 2021 and is a founding member of the New Zealand Indoor Air Quality Research Centre.

Publications

Bennett, J., Salman, S., Moodley, D., Dobinson, H., Andersen, E., Anderson, A., … Baker, M., … Manning, L. (2025). High dose, subcutaneous injections of benzathine penicillin G (SCIP) to prevent rheumatic fever: A single arm, phase IIa trial of safety and pharmacokinetics. Journal of Infection. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2025.106506 Journal - Research Article

Mala, K., Baker, M. G., Stanley, J., & Bennett, J. (2025). The epidemiology of repeatedly positive bacterial skin infections in Auckland children, New Zealand. Journal of Infection, 90, 106484. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2025.106484 Journal - Research Article

Mala, K., Baker, M. G., Stanley, J., & Bennett, J. (2025). Epidemiology of skin infections in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand Medical Journal/Te ara tika o te hauora hapori, 138(1609), 56-69. Retrieved from https://www.nzmj.org.nz/ Journal - Research Article

Massai, L., Carducci, M., Rovetini, L., Paterson, A., Whitcombe, A., McGregor, R., … Bennett, J., … Rossi, O. (2025). Characterization of an IL-8 cleavage inhibition assay to determine the functionality of anti-SpyCEP antibodies in human sera. Journal of Immunological Methods, 536, 113786. doi: 10.1016/j.jim.2024.113786 Journal - Research Article

Ammar, S., Anglemyer, A., Bennett, J., Lees, J., Addidle, M., Morgan, J., DuBray, K., … Duff, P. (2024). Post-pandemic increase in invasive group A strep infections in New Zealand. Journal of Infection & Public Health, 17, 102545. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.102545 Journal - Research Article

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