Professor Josh Davis

Senior principal research fellow

Qualifications:

PhD, Charles Darwin University, 2011; Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, University of Sydney, 1994; Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, University of Liverpool (UK), 1998; Graduate Diploma of Population Health, University of Newcastle, 2008; Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Infectious Diseases, 2005

Approved level of HDR supervision at Charles Darwin University:

Principal Supervisor for PhD

Location:

Newcastle

Biography:

Josh is a clinician researcher, and divides his time between clinical work as an Infectious Diseases physician in Newcastle, and research work as a principal research fellow based at Menzies.

He completed his clinical infectious diseases training in 2004, and then worked on a PhD from 2007-2010 on the epidemiology, pathophysiology and adjunctive treatment of sepsis in the Top End of the Northern Territory (NT).

His main research interests are clinical trials in the management of severe infections, epidemiology of severe bacterial infections, and the clinical and molecular epidemiology of viral hepatitis.

Josh is the clinical lead for viral hepatitis for the Hunter New England local health district in NSW, and the clinical lead for the COVID-19 expert reference group for the Hunter New England local health district.

In 2018, Josh was awarded a research excellence award from the NHMRC for the top ranked career development fellowship, and he is a chief investigator on several ongoing large multinational RCTs including SNAP (adaptive platform trial assessing multiple treatments for Staph aureus bacteraemia), ASCOT (adaptive platform trial of therapeutic agents for COVID-19), BLING3 (RCT of continuous infusion versus bolus dosing of antibiotics in ICU) and SUDDICU (Cluster cross-over RCT of selective digestive tract decontamination in ICU). He also established and is the co-lead of the Menzies Viral Hepatitis Research Program.

  • ASCOT (adaptive platform trial of therapeutic agents for COVID-19)
  • SUDDICU (Cluster cross-over RCT of selective digestive tract decontamination in ICU)
  • BLING3 (RCT of continuous infusion versus bolus dosing of antibiotics in ICU)
  • AC-DC (Acinetobacter colonisation in Darwin and NT Communities)
  • HBV-PAST
  • SNAP (adaptive platform trial assessing multiple treatments for Staph aureus bacteraemia)
  • CHARM (molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)​ in the Top End)
  • ELEPHANT (epidemiology of liver cancer); developing an Ipad-based educational resource about HBV in Yolngu and English with partners from Galiwinku

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=F4soxgEAAAAJ&hl=en

Over 120 peer-reviewed published papers, with an h-index of 30 and over 4,600 citations.

  1. Davis, J.S., McMillan, M., Swaminathan, A., Kelly, J.A., Piera, K.E, Baird, R.W., Currie, B.J., Anstey, N.M. (2014). A 16-year prospective study of community-onset bacteremic Acinetobacter pneumonia: low mortality with appropriate initial empirical antibiotic protocols. Chest, 146(4), 1038-1045.
  2. Parker, C., Tong, S.Y.C., Dempsey, K., Condon, J., Sharma, S.K., Chen, J.W.C., Sievert, W., Davis, J.S. (2014). Hepatocellular carcinoma in Australia's Northern Territory: high incidence and poor outcome. Medical Journal of Australia, 201(8), 470-474.
  3. Tong, S.Y.C., Davis, J.S., Eichenberger, E., Holland, T.L., Fowler, V.G. (2015). Staphylococcus aureus infections: epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and management. Clinical microbiology reviews, 28(3), 603-661.
  4. Dulhunty, J.M., Roberts, J.A., Davis, J.S., Webb, S.A., Bellomo, R., Gomersall, C., et al. (2015). A Multicenter Randomized Trial of Continuous versus Intermittent β-Lactam Infusion in Severe Sepsis. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 192(11), 1298-1305.
  5. Davis, J.S., Mackrow, C., Binks, P., Fletcher, W., Dettwiller, P., Marshall, C., Day, J., Pratt, W., Tong, S.Y.C. (2015). A double-blind randomized controlled trial of ibuprofen compared to placebo for uncomplicated cellulitis of the upper or lower limb. Clinical microbiology and infection, 23(4), 242-246.
  6. Davies, J., Li, S.Q., Tong, S.Y., Baird, R.W., Beaman, M., Higgins, G., Cowie, B.C., Condon, J.R., Davis, J.S. (2017). Establishing contemporary trends in hepatitis B sero-epidemiology in an Indigenous population. PloS one, 12(9).
  7. Davis, J.S., Turnidge, J., Tong, S.Y.C. (2018). A large retrospective cohort study of cefazolin compared with flucloxacillin for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 52(2), 297-300.
  8. Yuen, L.K.W., Littlejohn, M., Duchêne, S., Edwards, R., Bukulatjpi, S., Binks, P., Jackson, K., Davies, J., Davis, J.S., Tong, S.Y.C. (2019). Tracing ancient human migrations into Sahul using Hepatitis B Virus genomes. Molecular biology and evolution, 36(5), 942-954.
  9. Meumann, E.M, Anstey, N.M., Currie, B.J., Piera, K.A., Kenyon, J.J., Hall, R.M., Davis, J.S., Sarovich, D.S. (2019). Genomic epidemiology of severe community-onset Acinetobacter baumannii infection. Microbial genomics, 5(3), 1038-45.
  10. Davies, J., Smith, E.L., Littlejohn, M., Edwards, R., Sozzi, V., Jackson, K., McGuire, K., Binks, P., Cowie, B.C., Locarnini, S. (2019). Towards Genotype-Specific Care for Chronic Hepatitis B: The First 6 Years Follow Up From the CHARM Cohort Study. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 6(11), ofz469.
  11. Sullivan, R.P., Davies, J., Binks, P., Dhurrkay, R.G., Gurruwiwi, G.G., Bukulatjpi, S.M., McKinnon, M., Hosking, K., Littlejohn, M., Jackson, K. (2019). Point of care and oral fluid hepatitis B testing in remote Indigenous communities of northern Australia. Journal of viral hepatitis.
  12. Davis, J.S., Young, M., Marshall, C., Tate-Baker, J., Madison, M., Sharma, S., Silva, C., Jones, T., Davies, J. (2020). Minimal compared with standard monitoring during sofosbuvir-based hepatitis C treatment: a randomized controlled trial. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 7(2), ofaa022.
  13. Tong, S.Y.C., Lye, D.C., Yahav, D., Sud, A., Robinson, J.O., Nelson, J., Archuleta, S., Roberts, M.A., Cass, A., Paterson, D.L. (2013). Effect of Vancomycin or Daptomycin With vs Without an Antistaphylococcal β-Lactam on Mortality, Bacteremia, Relapse, or Treatment Failure in Patients With MRSA Bacteremia: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Jama, 323(6), 527-537.
  1. MEDIA RELEASE | Menzies researchers in the top 2 per cent
  2. Researchers at CDU some of the most influential in their fields
  3. The Australian | Hit Covid fast: antiviral drugs to keep infected out of hospital
  4. Top honour for leading infectious diseases physician
  5. Leading infectious diseases physician honoured with Frank Fenner Award
  6. Tapeworm, vertigo and pancreatitis drugs are being trialled as COVID-19 treatments
  7. CDU academics named among world’s most influential
  8. NEWS Navigating COVID-19 ‘tiger country’
  9. CoronaCheck #32: Clive Palmer's 'ridiculous' hepatitis B comparison
  10. Major research papers retracted over data controversy
  11. An open letter from 119 scientists and researchers to The Lancet
  12. Innovative data use an important step in eliminating hep B
  13. Q&A with infectious diseases expert Professor Josh Davis
  14. Coronavirus assistance to Pacific and Timor-Leste
  15. Coronavirus assistance to Pacific and Timor-Leste
  16. CAMERA2: Standard MRSA treatment does not outperform combination therapy
  17. Trial shows using two drugs not better than one when treating MRSA blood infections
  18. Trial shows using two drugs not better than one when treating MRSA blood infections
  19. Study supports minimal monitoring in Sofosbuvir-based therapy for HCV
  20. PhD Expression of Interest | Camera 2 Study
  21. ASID Annual Scientific Meeting deemed a success for NT
  22. Combination Therapy for MRSA Bloodstream Infections: Still a Question Mark
  23. The winner takes it all  for S. aureus
  24. Two New Trials of Combination Therapy for MRSA Bacteremia
  25. Hepatitis B DNA Helps Trace History and Movement of First Australians
  26. Hepatitis B virus sheds light on ancient human population movements into Australia
  27. Menzies researcher gains national recognition
  28. Uptake of revolutionary hepatitis drugs lowest in areas of greatest need | ABC AM
  29. Combination Therapy in Treating S. aureus Infections
  30. RISE OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE “DEEPLY ALARMING”
  31. MJA Podcast on the clinical experience of patients with hepatitis C virus infection.
  32. Drug-Resistant Golden Staph Breakthrough Tested By Volunteer Australian Doctors
  33. Defeating serious MRSA infections using an everyday drug that shouldn’t work
  34. Infectious diseases specialist awarded $75 000 to continue fight against super-bug.
  35. NHMRC career fellowship: Dr Josh Davis
  36. NHMRC project snapshot: Dr Josh Davis
  37. NHMRC project snapshot: Dr Steve Tong