Nicola Spurrier

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Nicola Spurrier
Spurrier speaks on South Australia Police News in 2021
Born
Nicola Jane Smith

(1966-12-09) 9 December 1966 (age 57)
NationalityAustralian
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
Occupation(s)paediatrician and public health physician
Spouse
David Spurrier
(m. 1990)
ChildrenThree
AwardsPublic Service Medal June 2021
Chief Public Health Officer for South Australia
Assumed office
August 2019
Preceded byPaddy Phillips PSM

Nicola Jane Spurrier

since August 2019.

Education

Spurrier graduated with a

PhD from Adelaide University in 1999, with a thesis titled Parental management of children's asthma:the role of psychosocial factors.[1]

Career

Spurrier worked at the

Spurrier has worked for

child health, obesity prevention and Aboriginal health.[4][5] She is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine.[1]

Spurrier became Chief Public Health Officer for South Australia in August 2019. Four months later, she was involved in the state's response to bushfires.[6] From March 2020, Spurrier led South Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic,[4] giving daily press conferences alongside Premier Steven Marshall in which she was called "calm, honest and direct".[5] She became popular with the public and had a cocktail named after her at Adelaide bar 2KW.[7] Despite her "cult following", she ruled out a move into politics.[8][9]

Awards and recognition

Spurrier was one of four nominees for 2021

South Australian of the Year.[4] She was awarded a Public Service Medal in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours for outstanding public service to community health in South Australia.[10]

In September 2022, a newly discovered species of bacteria was named Nicolia spurrieriana in recognition of Spurrier's work during the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

Personal life

Spurrier has been married to David Spurrier, a physiotherapist, for thirty years and they have a daughter and two sons.[6][8] Her mother, sister, and brother in law are all also doctors.[12]

Selected publications

Book

  • Kirke, Kerry; Spurrier, Nicola; Bray, Martin (2009). Screening For Good Health: The Australian Guide To Health Screening And Immunisation. Melbourne University Publishing. .

Articles

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Nicola Spurrier" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c "Professor Nicola Spurrier". Flinders University.
  3. ^ a b c Farhart, Claudia (19 April 2020). "Who are the experts behind Australia's coronavirus response?". SBS News. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Spurrier nominated for SA Australian of the Year". InDaily. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Meet South Australia's 16 nominees for the 2021 Australian of the Year Awards". Port Pirie Recorder. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b Debelle, Penelope (29 May 2020). "SA Weekend inside story: How Nicola Spurrier became the face of South Australia's resistance to the COVID-19 crisis". The Advertiser. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  7. ^ Penberthy, David (24 September 2020). "SA tastes freedom under Marshall law". The Australian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  8. ^ Richardson, Tom (1 March 2021). "Minister pondering new environment as Boothby contenders circle". InDaily. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  9. ^ Swanell, Cate (14 June 2021). "Queen's Birthday honorees". Medical Journal of Australia. 214 (111). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Researchers spurred by COVID strategy name new bug after chief health officer Nicola Spurrier". ABC News. 13 September 2022.
  11. ^ "The family that gives back". Flinders University. 2020.

External links