Tessa Oakley
Senior Laboratory Technical Advisor, Timor-Leste and PhD Candidate
Qualifications:
PhD Candidate, Menzies School of Health Research (current),; Master of Environmental Management, University of Newcastle, 2013,; Bachelor of Science (Honours), Deakin University, 2011.
Location:
Biography:
Tessa is a senior laboratory technical advisor and medical scientist with a history of work in Cambodia and Timor-Leste in laboratory capacity-building and mentoring. She has over 10 years’ experience in diagnostic microbiology and training as well as a strong interest in diagnostic laboratory facilities and LIMS implementation in resource-limited countries.
Tessa has collaborated with Menzies through research projects such as MATCH-TL which aims to strengthen diagnosis and surveillance of infectious diseases in Timor-Leste. The MATCH-TL project is currently working closely alongside the Timor-Leste Ministry of Health to improve access to, and quality of, laboratory diagnostic testing for Malaria, TB, COVID-19, and HIV.
She is currently working with the Fleming Fund Country Grant in Timor-Leste on capacity-building of the National Health Laboratory in Dili for surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Her PhD is on the topic of laboratory strengthening for diagnostic microbiology and AMR surveillance in Timor-Leste as a model for other low-to-middle-income-countries.
