Associate Professor Anna Ralph

Senior clinical research fellow

Qualifications:

PhD, Australian National University, 2010; Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 2005; Diploma of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, 2002; Master of Public Health, University of Sydney, 1999; Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery Honours Class 1, University of New South Wales, 1996; Medical Science Honours Class 1, Australian National University, 1993; Bachelor of Medical Science, University of Tasmania, 1992.

Location:

Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus

Biography:
Anna is staff specialist in infectious diseases and general medicine at the Royal Darwin Hospital and senior clinical research fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research. She is an honorary fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) and a member of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Network.

Her research goals are to improve outcomes for people with diseases of poverty including tuberculosis and rheumatic fever. Her offshore research has included studies to improve knowledge of regional tuberculosis pathophysiology, epidemiology and treatment (in Indonesia and Malaysia). Her local research focus is on improving the management of acute rheumatic fever in the Northern Territory.
Associate Professor Anna Ralph
Email
Research Themes
  1.  Ralph AP, Read C, Johnston V et al. (2016) Improving delivery of secondary prophylaxis for rheumatic heart disease in remote Indigenous communities: study protocol for a stepped-wedge randomised trial. Trials. 17:51. 
  2. He V, Condon J, Ralph AP et al. (2016) Long-Term Outcomes from Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease: A Data-Linkage and Survival Analysis Approach. Circulation. 134:222-32. 
  3. Davis JS, Sud A, O'Sullivan MV, Robinson JO, Ferguson PE, Foo H, van Hal SJ, Ralph AP, Howden BP, Binks PM, Kirby A, Tong SY (2016) Combination of vancomycin and β-lactam therapy for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia: A pilot multicenter randomized controlled trial. Clin Infect Dis 62(2):173-80. 
  4. Ralph AP, Waramori G, Pontororing GJ, et al. (2013) L-arginine and Vitamin D adjunctive therapies in pulmonary tuberculosis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. PLoS ONE. (8):e70032. 
  5. Ralph AP and Carapetis J. (2013) Group A streptococcal diseases and their global burden. Current Topics in Microbiology & Immunology. 368:1-27. 
  6. Ralph AP, Lucas RM, Norval M. (2013) Vitamin D and solar ultraviolet radiation in the risk and treatment of tuberculosis. Lancet Infect Dis 13:77-88 
  7. Ralph AP, Ardian M, Wiguna A et al. (2010) A simple, valid, numerical score for grading chest X-ray severity in adult smear positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Thorax, 65:863-869. 
  8. Ralph AP, Yeo TW, Salome CM et al. (2013) Impaired Pulmonary Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Association with Disease Severity and Delayed Mycobacterial Clearance with Treatment. JID, 204(4):616-26. 
  9. Ralph AP, Fittock M, Schultz R et al. (2013) Improvement in rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease management and prevention using a health centre-based continuous quality improvement approach. BMC Health Serv Res.13:525.
  10. Ralph A, Jacups S, McGough K et al. (2006) The challenges of rheumatic fever diagnosis in a high-incidence population: A prospective study and proposed guidelines for diagnosis in Australia’s Northern Territory. Heart Lung Circ. 15(2):113-8.
Click here to view more Anna Ralph publications in PubMed.
  1. Rheumatic heart disease researchers on mission

    Rheumatic heart disease researchers on mission

    Date

    The Northern Territory has the highest rate of rheumatic heart disease in the world, which is partly due to poor living conditions such as overcrowded housing, said Associate Professor Anna Ralph from the Menzies School of Health Research.

  2. Funding boost to tackle health challenges in northern Australia

    Funding boost to tackle health challenges in northern Australia

    Date

    Work will begin to help close critical gaps in healthcare across northern Australia as the result of a $6m grant awarded today to Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies) by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

  3. $2m grant to combat drug resistant malaria and tuberculosis

    $2m grant to combat drug resistant malaria and tuberculosis

    Date

    A $2m research grant to work towards the prevention, control and elimination of malaria and tuberculosis (TB) in Southeast Asia and the Pacific has been awarded to a consortium led by Menzies School of Health Research, in collaboration with Burnet Institute, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade announced today.

  4. The Conversation: Lung gas holds clue for future tuberculosis treatment

    The Conversation: Lung gas holds clue for future tuberculosis treatment

    Date

    Australian researchers have uncovered a link between low levels of the gas nitric oxide in the lungs of tuberculosis patients and the body’s ability to fight the deadly disease, opening the door to potential new treatments.

  5. Journal of Infectious Diseases: Impaired Pulmonary Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

    Journal of Infectious Diseases: Impaired Pulmonary Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Pulmonary Tuberculosis

    Date

    Impaired Pulmonary Nitric Oxide Bioavailability in Pulmonary Tuberculosis: Association with Disease Severity and Delayed Mycobacterial Clearance with Treatment.

  6. Research reveals new target to fight tuberculosis

    Research reveals new target to fight tuberculosis

    Date

    New research from the Menzies School of Health Research could open the door to the development of new treatments for Tuberculosis (TB).

  7. Disease of the month: tuberculosis

    Disease of the month: tuberculosis

    Date

    With a history as long as mankind’s, TB lies dormant in one third of our global population.