Julie Arnott is a public health epidemiologist with extensive experience in the health service, specialising in health protection/infection prevention and control.

Julie is a UCC graduate, with a BSc in Public Health, a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection, and a Master’s in Public Health specialising in advanced epidemiology and biostatistics. Joining UCC in November 2021 as Programme Director and Lecturer, Julie offers her expertise gained in Julie has the opportunity to undertake her PhD.

In Ireland, scientists are currently unable to apply for the Public Health Speciality Training, therefore Julie acquired the competencies of a Public Health Consultant in varying healthcare jurisdictions including England, Wales and Ireland through employments with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Public Health Wales (PHW), the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), and the HSE-Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). Additionally, Julie has gained experience in global health with the Malaria Consortium in Uganda, and Infection Prevention and Control with the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork.

Competencies gained are outlined below:

1.       Public health intelligence:
 At the malaria consortium, Julie undertook a health needs assessment of malaria in the rural county of Arua prior to investment being made into service delivery.

2.       Evidence assessment:
At PHW, Julie led a systematic root cause analysis into the rise of Escherichia coli bacteraemia in Wales over 10 years, requested by and delivered to the CMO, resulting in changes to service delivery and UTI management guidelines.

3.       Policy/strategy development and implementation:
a)       At HIQA, Julie led the development of the Guidance on Privacy Impact Assessment in health and social care and toolkit, following the enactment of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
b)      At UCC, Julie undertook a feasibility study on implementing the SARI guidance for developing an antimicrobial consumption surveillance system in the community setting in Ireland for her MPH minor thesis in epidemiology.

4.       Strategic leadership and collaborative working:
At HPSC, Julie led the national surveillance for COVID-19 in Ireland, including rapidly developing a novel robotic innovation.

5.       Health improvement:
At UCC, Julie led an academic-service partnership to assess the feasibility of implementing national Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy into practice for the national Health Service Executive (HSE) website, using an evidence-based framework for responsible AI development in healthcare.

6.       Health protection:
At PHW and HPSC, Julie led in the surveillance of communicable- and vaccine-preventable disease, managed investigations to prevent health risks escalating, investigated outbreaks at community, healthcare or hospital level, published public articles promoting awareness and prevention, and applied epidemiological methods to generate scientific publications to disseminate findings at national and international conferences.

7.       Health and Care Public Health:
At HPSC, Julie led a health technology assessment into the impact of changing the trivalent influenza vaccine to a quadrivalent vaccine, requested by the Deputy CMO, presented to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and resulted in policy change for the 2019/2020 immunisation programme.

8.       Academic public health:
a)      At LSHTM, Julie led a pharmacoepidemiology study investigating pharmacovigilance reports.
b)      At UCC, Julie investigated the impact of the COVID-19 infodemic on risk perception and mental distress.
c)       At UCC, Julie undertook a programme quality review, presenting at teaching and learning events at College, University and UNIC level.

9.       Professional, personal and ethical development:
Julie continues to undertake intensive training courses to hone her analytical, leadership and teaching skills

Julie has a proven track record in health service epidemiology and healthcare quality improvement. Julie gained expertise in community, vaccine-preventable, healthcare-associated and antimicrobial-resistant infectious disease.

Julie's specialist skills include: infectious disease surveillance, applying epidemiological methods, outbreak investigation, root-cause analysis, quality improvement, policy change and technological innovation projects with publications outlined.

Julie's has developed her specialist skillsets through intensive postgraduate training courses including;

1. Analytical skills:

Linked Health Data Analysis, Introductory & Advanced courses (University of Western Australia/ Swansea University), Multivariate regression analysis (EpiConcept), Causal Inference (HarvardX), Infodemic management (World Health Organisation), STATA (Bristol University).

2. 'Soft' skills:

Leadership and emotional intelligence (RCPI), School for Change Agents (NHS Horizons), Facilitation skills (HIQA), Plain English language training (HIQA/NALA), Project Management for Public Health (PHW).

Previous research (please see publications for further information):Coronaviruses – COVID-19 and MERS-CoV (HPSC)Influenza vaccination (HPSC and PHW)Outbreak investigations (HPSC & PHW)E. coli bacteraemia Root Cause Analysis (PHW)National Guidance publication (HIQA)Antimicrobial Consumption Community Surveillance, Minor Thesis in Epidemiology (UCC)Pharmacoepidemiology (LSHTM).

Julie is the Programme Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection, the pathway coordinator for the health protection specialisation on the Masters of Public Health (online). Julie also teaches on the BSc Public Health Sciences and Masters of Public Health (campus).

Course co-ordinator for modules;
EH4003 - Health Protection
EH6150 - Introduction to Health Protection
EH6151 - Advanced Health Protection
EH6101 - Microbiology, the Environment and Infectious Disease

Additionally Julie teaches on;
EH6019 - The Principles and Practice of Multi-disciplinary Health Protection
EH6046 - Global and Environmental Health

Curriculum design:

Since joining in 2021, Julie has conducted a review of the health protection curriculum in line with UCC's Connected Curriculum to identify gaps between education and practice through targeted stakeholder engagement with experts and new graduates in the workforce. 

• Julie’s practice-based approach is embedded in the curriculum through real-world case studies and scenario-based assignments to enhance applied learning, skill development and UCC's graduate attributes.
• Julie has co-developed guest lectures with multidisciplinary experts in health, environment, security and infection prevention and control to highlight the inter- and trans-disciplinary nature of health protection.
• Julie has adopted the all-hazards approach to align with national health protection strategy and international health regulations. 
• Julie’s programme aligns with UCC's Universal Design for Learning approach, by promoting inclusivity and equity by engaging learners through diverse mediums.
• Julie has presented her quality enhancement initiatives at annual Learning and Teaching showcases at College, University and the European University of Cities in Post-Industrial Transition (UNIC) level.

The School of Public Health has been reviewed externally, as the 8th global institution to be accredited by the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA), and internally by UCC's Quality Enhancement Unit.

Continuous professional development courses:

• Digital badge in Universal Design for Learning
• Digital badge in Inclusive Assessment
• Digital badge in Problem-based learning
• SDG4U train the trainers in teaching the sustainable development goals  
• UCC workshop on integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into teaching.