Professor Helen Marshall sets her sights on the fight against gonorrhoea

Professor Helen Marshall - named this week as South Australia’s Woman of the Year for her work on infectious diseases - has set her sight on a new target.

South Australia’s Woman of the Year has been lauded for her lifesaving work confronting one insidious disease – now her attention is on another.

Professor Helen Marshall, who this week took top honours at the awards, on the eve of International Women’s Day, for her work on meningococcal disease, is now combating gonorrhoea.

A new study, B Part of It NT, is investigating the meningococcal B vaccine, developed through Prof Marshall’s work, and the possibility it could perform the dual role of protecting young people against both meningococcal disease and gonorrhoea.

Professor Marshall said she wanted her work to have as much of an impact as possible.

Professor Helen Marshall is turning her attention to wiping out gonorrhoea. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Professor Helen Marshall after being named Woman of the Year earlier this week, with her daughter Imogen. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“You have so much impact if you work in public health, and I am very passionate about doing really good research,” she says.

Through her work at the University of Adelaide, Prof Marshall delivered the largest meningococcal B vaccine herd immunity study in the world.

As part of the research it was found it also reduced carriage of meningococcal strains that were structurally similar to gonorrhoea-causing “gonococcus bacterium”.

In an in-depth interview with SA Weekend today, Prof Marshall talks about her life, her work and her heartbreaking motivation in fighting meningococcal disease head on.

SAWEEKEND: MARSHALL AWE

Originally published as Professor Helen Marshall sets her sights on the fight against gonorrhoea