Epidemiologist Allen Cheng leads host of medical luminaries recognised in Australia Day gongs

Covid-19 thrust epidemiologist Professor Allen Cheng into the spotlight. His expertise during the pandemic response been recognised in this year’s Australia Day Honours list.

Professor Allen Cheng was one of the key experts Australians relied on during the Covid pandemic Picture: Nadir Kinani

When young students Peter Cheng from Hong Kong and Jenny Leong from Malaysia came to Australia in the 1950s, they could barely have envisaged a future that included their son Allen being awarded Australia’s highest civilian honour.

One of six Australians to be awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours list, Professor Allen Cheng has been recognised for his service in the field of epidemiology and communicable diseases.

Professor Cheng’s two decades of public health research saw him increasingly specialise in infectious diseases, culminating in a range of roles during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For Victorians he became one of the key faces of their state government’s daily Covid update in his role as the state’s Deputy Chief Health Officer, alongside his colleague Professor Brett Sutton.

And at a national level he was co-chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, ATAGI, which played a critical role in the vaccine regime introduced across the nation, as well as serving as an expert adviser to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

“This honour is really unexpected as I thought everyone had forgotten about the pandemic,” Professor Cheng told The Australian.

“To be honest I’d rather we never had a pandemic and I had remained an obscure public health epidemiologist, but that isn’t the case.”

Professor Cheng’s father died during the pandemic, but not of Covid, and his mother passed away a few months ago.

“They both came to Australia as students, my dad from Hong Kong and my mother from Malaysia, which was not so common back in the 50s.

“I know they were grateful for the opportunities this country gave them, and I hope I’ve repaid the faith Australia showed in them by my contribution to medicine in this country,” he said.

Professor Cheng’s honour does not by any stretch mean he has put his medical cue in the rack. The world of public health and infectious diseases always has another potential issue on the horizon, or closer.

“Issues like antimicrobial resistance and respiratory viruses have been a significant part of my work,” he said.

“The big thing at the moment is avian influenza and how to deal with it. It’s been around a long time, but currently it’s spreading fast elsewhere in the world and is a considerable worry.”

The Australia Day Honours list included a number of medical professionals specialising in infectious diseases.

Professor Thomas Gottlieb is one such recipient, selected as one of the 23 people to receive an Order of Australia in this year’s honours list.

Professor Gottlieb has been head of infectious diseases at Concord Hospital in Sydney for 25 years and has been a clinical senior lecturer at Sydney University’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology for even longer.

He has served on the Infection Control Guidelines Committee at the National Health and Medical Research Council and is a past president of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.

Professor Gottleib received his award for distinguished service to medicine as an infectious disease and microbiology specialist, author and researcher.

“It’s a wonderful recognition that infectious disease matters, and for me a recognition from peers of the work we do,” he said.

“I’ve looked at everything from HIV to tuberculosis, but I’ve mostly looked at antibiotic resistance which I see as a big sleeper issue going forward.

“We aren’t very good at our stewardship of antibiotics, which results in poor use,” Professor Gottlieb said.

Another Order of Australia recipient is Professor Richard Strugnell, a specialist microbiologist in the field of immunology.

Professor Strugnell received his AO for distinguished services to medicine, particularly microbiology, immunology and vaccinology.

He is a longtime academic at the University of Melbourne, and is currently a professorial fellow in the department of microbiology and immunology.

Professor Strugnell is also a member of the World Health Organisation’s strategic advisory group of experts on immunisation and typhoid vaccines.

Queensland-based intensive care physician and surgeon John Fraser was also awarded an Order of Australia for his distinguished service to medicine and to global critical care research.