Professor Allen Cheng AC

Professor Allen Cheng AC played many important roles during the coronavirus pandemic in Australia.  

He is a specialist in infectious diseases, and is currently Director of Infectious Diseases at Monash Health, and Professor of Infectious Diseases at Monash University.  

“My main area of interest is in the epidemiology of respiratory infections, particularly influenza and immunisation,” he says.  

“During the COVID pandemic, I was involved in many aspects of the response at various times – I was co-chair of Australia Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, advising the Australian Government on the immunisation program; the chair of the Advisory Committee for Vaccines, advising the TGA on vaccine regulation; Deputy Victorian Chief Health Officer, and I was an advisor to the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.  

“Over the years, I have been involved in work on some of the big public health threats from infectious diseases – respiratory viruses, antibiotic resistance and pandemic preparedness; obviously this was directly relevant during the COVID pandemic.” 

For his work, Professor Allen Cheng AC was appointed a Companion of the Order for eminent service to medicine as an epidemiologist, to infectious and communicable disease research and education, and to national and international public health policy. 

Professor Cheng says he is motivated by working to answer questions that inform policy and practice.  

“Epidemiology is the science that underpins public health and clinical medicine,” he says. 

“I enjoy making sense of data – in epidemiology these are almost always imperfect and messy, but it’s very satisfying to get results of analyses and have a glimpse of a truth that we may not have previously known.”  

When he first heard about his recognition, Professor Cheng says he was surprised as he thought everyone was trying to forget about the pandemic.  

“It certainly is an honour to be recognised by your country and to think that other people have made the assessment that you’ve made a significant contribution,” he says.  

“I lost my parents recently – my father died during the pandemic and my mother a few months ago. They both came to Australia in the late 1950s and early 1960s as students, and I was born in Australia.  

“While they made great contributions to Australia in their own lives, I think they might have seen this honour for me as repaying the faith that Australia showed them in allowing them to stay and raise their children.”