The TB CRE congratulates Dr Trisasi Lestari who has successfully obtained a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Public Health from the Charles Darwin University. Her thesis title was "Strengthening health systems to improve tuberculosis contact investigation and preventive treatment in Mimika, Indonesia". PhD supervision was provided by CRE investigators, Prof Anna Ralph of Menzies School of Health Research and Charles Darwin University and Prof Steve Graham of University of Melbourne and the Burnet Institute.
Her implementation research evaluated the impact and challenges of health systems strengthening to improve the detection, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis in Mimika district, Papua province, Indonesia. Mimika district is a remote and resource-limited district of Indonesia with a total population of 313,016 in 2023 and notified TB incidence of 796 per 100,000 population. A package of interventions to facilitate decentralisation of services for diagnosis and treatment as well as introduction of TB contact investigation and preventive treatment was initiated in 2017. Her implementation research employed continuous quality improvement methodology that achieved impressive outcomes utilising the limited resources available in that context. Her work contributed to the achievement of various awards and national recognition for Mimika district’s TB program that have been received since 2018.
Trisasi received an Australian Postgraduate Award Scholarship under the scheme “Improving Health Outcomes in the Tropical North: A multidisciplinary Collaboration". Her PhD work received funding from the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (grant number 1132089; the ‘Tropical Disease Regional Research Collaboration Initiative’). Sasi has been a regular contributor to TB CRE activities over the last 5 years - and has been appointed to a major technical leadership role for the USAID-funded BEBAS TB project in Indonesia over the next 5 years through which she will continue to collaborate with the CRE.