Community Outreach
Dr Anna Brooks is Senior Research Fellow and Principal Investigator at the Liggins Institute, at the University of Auckland. In addition, she is the Academic Director of Auckland Cytometry, the flow cytometry Shared Resource Laboratory for the Faculty of Science. Dr Brooks has a broad background in human immunology, with specific training and expertise in advanced cell characterisation using high dimensional spectral flow cytometry.
Dr Brooks sits on the World Health Network Long COVID Advisory Group (global) and the Executive committee for the Associated New Zealand ME Society (ANZMES). Dr Brooks is a member of the New Zealand Institute of NZ Medical Laboratory Science (NZIMLS), the Australasian Cytometry Society (ACS), the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) and the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) societies.
Dr Brooks is a passionate advocate for science communication and public engagement. She regularly participates in public lectures, interviews, and social media outreach to promote scientific literacy and raise awareness of these illnesses and their impact on individuals, and the importance of continued research in this field. She also actively engages with patient / lived-experienced groups, societies, and community groups.
Media:
- Is NZ the worst country to have Long Covid? RNZ, 30th Nov, 2024
- PHCC briefing Mar 26th 2024: Long Covid in Aotearoa NZ: Risk assessment and preventive action urgently needed
- Regular contributor of ‘expert reactions’ & Q&A for the Science Media Centre
- Dec 18 2023: Covid-19 over the holidays – Expert Reaction
- May 3rd 2022: Catching Covid-19 more than once – Expert Q&A
- March 9th 2022: Could NZ limit long Covid? – Expert Reaction
- April 29th 2021: Long COVID in New Zealand – Expert Q&A
- Conducted over 500 media interviews (print/TV/radio)
ME/CFS & Long COVID community events:
- ME Adelaide South Australia AGM, guest speaker, October 2023
- Rest Assured Respite Charitable Trust guest speaker, Long Covid and ME research, October 2023
- ME Support Long Covid video interviews
- Wellington Club, Leaving no one behind: Unravelling the complexities of Long Covid and its relationship to ME/CFS, June 29th 2022
- ME Group leaders Forum, Long Covid and ME Research, 6th April 2022
- Learn from ME: Long Covid and ME/CFS Research, 12th May 2022
General community events:
- University for the 3rd age North Shore, Auckland (U3a), August 2nd 2023, Long Covid
- Rotary event, North Shore Auckland, 19th June 2023: Long Covid Research
- The third party podcast show: Long Covid, CFS and how viruses hijack your immune system, March 2023
- “Well and Good” Podcast with Art Green, 20th September, 2022
- Raising the bar, The Looming Health Crisis of Long Covid, the BirdCage, August 2, 2022
- Podcast with “Nourish your Potential” – Long Covid and the return to exercise, 2nd February 2022
Education sector events:
- Maurice Wilkins Centre Teacher Professional Development education, Long Covid 2020-2023 (presented to teachers in the following regions: Nelson, Taupo, Tauranga, Marton, Napier, Queenstown x 2, Auckland x 2, Dunedin, Wellington, Kaitaia, Whangarei, Rotorua, New Plymouth, Christchurch
- Epsom Girls Grammar teachers presentation: Long Covid, What do we know, August 10th 2022
- MBIE Business Support Network Meeting kōrero, Long Covid and the return to work, 26th May 2022
- Auckland Council kōrero – Long Covid, 28th April 2022
- Politics, science, and promotion of Long Covid: Emerging Issues in Health Promotion, Victoria University of Wellington, September 23rd, 2022
- Long Covid: Fatigue Mechanisms, immunology and molecular physiology, Clinical Exercise Physiology New Zealand conference, September 17th, 2022
- Developing Diagnostics: The Quest to Characterise Immune Dysfunction in Long Covid & ME/CFS, SPCS Seminar, University of Canterbury, July 2022
- There’s something in the blood: Developing diagnostic tests for Long Covid, July 2022 NZ Blood service
- Long COVID: Immunity and Pathophysiology, Long Covid Journey through the Fog, UoA Symposium, May 2022
Health-care / General Practice Sector events:
- Workshop presentation: Evidence-based diagnosis and management of Long COVID at The Royal College of General Practitioner’s conference (GP24) in Wellington on 27th July 2024 (more details here)
- Invited speaker, Challenges in diagnoses and management of Long Covid, Goodfellow Symposium, March 24th, 2024
- Invited speaker, Long COVID – what do we know now? IMAC Influenza and COVID Symposium March, 2024
- Plenary: Infectious Diseases. Viruses Old and New: Lessons from the Pandemic, GP, CME, South, August 10-13th, 2023
- Plenary: What Do We Know About Post Viral Illnesses? GP CME, South, August 2023
- Workshops: Updates on Long Covid and Tips for Managing Post Viral illnesses, GP CME, South, August 10-13th 2023
- Novartis Nurses forum: Update on Long Covid and the use of anti-viral treatments for patients with autoimmune disease, June 8-10th 2023
- COVID-19 session GP CME Rotorua, June 8-10th 2023
- Plenary: What Do We Know About Post Viral Illnesses? GP CME Rotorua, June 2023
- Workshops: Updates on Long COVID and Tips for Managing Post Viral illnesses, GP CME Rotorua, June 8-10th 2023
- Long Covid & Managing immunocompromised patients, November 17th 2022, Auckland
- Long Covid and the search for Diagnostic Markers, Australasian pathology special interest group, Middlemore, Auckland October 7th 2022
- Long Covid and the search for Diagnostic Markers, CoLab, Wellington September 2022
- Plenary: Long Covid and the search for Diagnostic Markers MZIMLS ASM 2022, September 2nd, Wellington 2022
- Long COVID: the quest to characterise immune dysfunction, National Immunisation Workshop, New Plymouth, September 8th 2022
- Plenary: Covid conversations: Managing Long Covid, GP CME South, Christchurch, August 12th 2022
- Workshop: How biomedical research can help: Long Covid Workshop, GP22, July 24th Christchurch, 2022
- Long Covid: Immunity and Pathophysiology, breakfast meeting, GP CME Rotorua June 9-12th 2022