Dr Michael Loftus

Dr Michael Loftus is an academic infectious diseases physician. He currently holds dual positions as a Consultant Physician in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Alfred Hospital (Regional Outreach Service) and as a Research Fellow within the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. His research focuses on the intersections between climate change and human health – both the health impacts wrought by climate change, as well as the large carbon footprint of healthcare.

Michael graduated in medicine from Monash University in 2011 and undertook specialist training in Infectious Diseases across the Alfred and Austin Hospitals, including a six-month secondment within the Health Protection Branch of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Between 2019 and 2022 he completed his PhD at Monash University, entitled “Antimicrobial resistance in the Pacific Island Countries and Territories”.

Dr Kate Charlesworth

Dr Kate Charlesworth MBBS (Hons), MPH, FAFPHM, PhD is a public health physician in Sydney. After working as a hospital doctor in Perth and Sydney, Kate completed much of her training in public health medicine in the UK.

She worked as a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and then at the Sustainable Development Unit in Cambridge. The SDU is a world-leading unit tasked with reducing the carbon footprint of England’s National Health Service. Kate has also completed a PhD in low-carbon healthcare, and has 15 peer-reviewed papers. Kate now works in the NSW public health system as a medical specialist in environmentally sustainable healthcare – the first such role in Australia.