Professor Jonathan Carapetis is a paediatrician and Infectious Diseases specialist and is Director of the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth, Australia, having previously been Director of the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin from 2006-2012.
He has particular expertise in rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease; other group A streptococcal diseases; vaccine preventable disease; Indigenous child health; child development and education; youth health and education; and skin sores and scabies.
Professor Carapetis has made an international contribution and commitment to the reduction of rheumatic heart disease in Australia and globally. While rare in most developed countries, Australia has one of the highest rates of the disease in the world due to its prevalence within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, particularly in Northern Australia.
Professor Carapetis was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Charles Darwin University in 2013 and named as Northern Territory Australian of the Year for 2008. He has been named as one of Australia’s top 100 brains in Cosmos magazine, and selected in the top ten in Medicine and Health in the Bulletin Magazine’s “Smart 100” list.
Professor Carapetis undertook his medical training at the Royal Melbourne and Royal Children’s Hospitals. Previous positions include terms as Director of the Centre for International Child Health at the University of Melbourne, and Theme Director at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.
Professor Carapetis holds a clinical position as consultant in paediatric infectious diseases with the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children and is a Winthrop Professor at the University of Western Australia.