Dr Sarah Cassidy-Seyoum

Research Officer – Policy and Community Engagement

Qualifications:

Master of Science in the Control of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2017; Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Government with a minor in Biological Sciences, Smith College, 2016; PhD, Charles Darwin University and Maastricht University, 2025;

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Associate supervisor of PhD

Location:

Darwin - Royal Darwin Hospital campus

Biography:

Sarah has been working in the malaria world since obtaining her MSc in the Control of Infectious Diseases in 2017. After graduating, Sarah worked with the World Health Organization as a United Nations Volunteer and a Provincial Malaria Officer in in Lao PDR. She supported the National Malaria Program in carrying out routine surveillance activities, implementing outbreak responses, and monitoring treatment efficacy studies.

She continued her work in malaria in Lao PDR as a Program Coordinator for the University of California, San Francisco. She worked on projects testing the feasibility of interventions designed to reduce malaria burden. Projects included testing the feasibility and effectiveness of reactive case detection and the pilot of quantitative G6PD testing at the district hospital and health centre level.

Sarah continued to support the elimination of malaria as a PhD student under Professor Kamala Ley-Thriemer and Nora Engel at Menzies School of Health Research and Maastricht University and completed her PhD in September 2025. As a recipient of the Charles Darwin International PhD Scholarship, she investigated factors affecting the scale up and rollout of vivax malaria radical cure interventions.
Now as a Research Associate at Menzies, Sarah is continuing her work covering three main themes: Implementing Radical Cure Interventions, Guidance Tools for Policymakers, and Clinical trial health provider and community engagement.
 

Dr Sarah Cassidy-Seyoum
Email
Research Themes
  1. Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Chheng, K., Chanpheakdey, P., Meershoek, A., Hsiang, M. S., von Seidlein, L., Adhikari, B., Tripura, R., Ley, B., Price, R. N., Lek, D., Engel, N., & Thriemer, K. (2025). Perceptions of shorter radical cure Plasmodium vivax treatment regimens and their implementation: A qualitative study among stakeholders in Cambodia. Malaria Journal, 24(1), 304. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-025-05525-0
  2. Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Adhikari, B., Chheng, K., Chanpheakdey, P., Meershoek, A., Hsiang, M. S., von Seidlein, L., Tripura, R., Ley, B., Price, R. N., Dysoley, L., Thriemer, K., & Engel, N. (2025). Acceptability and feasibility of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing using SD Biosensor by village malaria workers in Cambodia: A qualitative study. BMJ Global Health, 10(6), e019615. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2025-019615
  3. Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Mwaura, M., Chheng, K., Kejela, M., Korra, K. G., Wodaj, T., Degaga, T. S., Hsiang, M. S., Von Seidlein, L., Tripura, R., Adhikari, B., Ley, B., Lek, D., Price, R. N., Engel, N., & Thriemer, K. (2025). Co-design of a routine clinical review to improve the safety of high dose radical cure treatment for Plasmodium vivax malaria: Findings from Cambodia and Ethiopia. Malaria Journal, 24(1), 171. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-025-05425-3
  4. Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Chheng, K., Chanpheakdey, P., Meershoek, A., Hsiang, M. S., Von Seidlein, L., Tripura, R., Adhikari, B., Ley, B., Price, R. N., Lek, D., Engel, N., & Thriemer, K. (2024). Implementation of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing for Plasmodium vivax case management, a mixed method study from Cambodia. PLOS Global Public Health, 4(7), e0003476. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0003476
  5. Sadhewa, A., Cassidy-Seyoum, S., Acharya, S., Devine, A., Price, R. N., Mwaura, M., Thriemer, K., & Ley, B. (2023). A Review of the Current Status of G6PD Deficiency Testing to Guide Radical Cure Treatment for Vivax Malaria. Pathogens, 12(5), 650. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12050650
  6. Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Chheng, K., Chanpheakdey, P., Meershoek, A., Hsiang, M. S., Von Seidlein, L., Adhikari, B., Tripura, R., Ley, B., Price, R. N., Lek, D., Thriemer, K., & Engel, N. (2025). Community patient follow-up as a part of P. vivax case management in Cambodia: A mixed methods study. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6423610/v1
  7. Cassidy-Seyoum, S., Vongsouvath, M., Sengvilaipaseuth, O., Seephonelee, M., Bharucha, T., de Lamballerie, X., Newton, P. N., & Dubot-Pérès, A. (2019). Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Source of Dengue Virus RNA for Envelope Gene Amplification: A Proof of Concept. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 101(2), 451–455. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.18-0831
  8. Setiawan, E., Cassidy-Seyoum, S. A., Thriemer, K., Carvalho, N., & Devine, A. (2024). A Systematic Review of Methods for Estimating Productivity Losses due to Illness or Caregiving in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. PharmacoEconomics, 42(8), 865–877. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40273-024-01402-x
  9. Adhikari, B., Tripura, R., Dysoley, L., Callery, J. J., Peto, T. J., Heng, C., Vanda, T., Simvieng, O., Cassidy-Seyoum, S., Ley, B., Thriemer, K., Dondorp, A. M., & von Seidlein, L. (2022). Glucose 6Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) quantitation using biosensors at the point of first contact: A mixed method study in Cambodia. Malaria Journal, 21(1), 282. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04300-9
  10. Adhikari, B., Tripura, R., Dysoley, L., Peto, T. J., Callery, J. J., Heng, C., Vanda, T., Simvieng, O., Cassidy-Seyoum, S., Thriemer, K., Dondorp, A. M., Ley, B., & Seidlein, L. V. (2023). Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Measurement Using Biosensors by Community-Based Village Malaria Workers and Hospital Laboratory Staff in Cambodia: A Quantitative Study. Pathogens, 12(3), 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12030400