About MoCCA

This website was produced as part of the Management of Chlamydia Cases in Australia (MoCCA) Project. MoCCA is a five-year project funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1150014) that seeks to address gaps in chlamydia management in Australian general practice. In particular, MoCCA focuses on improving testing for repeat infection within recommended timeframes, improving partner management, and increasing clinician confidence in diagnosing PID. The research team is based at the University of Melbourne. You can read more about the project here. 

The Research Team

(based at the University of Melbourne)

Professor Jane Hocking, Lead Investigator

Professor Jane Hocking heads the Sexual Health Unit at the University of Melbourne. She is an epidemiologist and implementation researcher with particular interest in the epidemiology and control of STIs. She has considerable expertise in the design and evaluation of complex interventions in primary care that aim to improve STI care. Her past research investigating chlamydia control in general practice highlighted the need for improved chlamydia management to reduce the risk of the reproductive health complications associated with chlamydia infection. She leads the MoCCA project.

Dr Jane Goller, Research Fellow

 Dr Jane Goller is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne.  She has over 15 years' experience in sexual health research, in particular focussing on STI focussed health services research and analysing routinely collected health service data to understand the epidemiology of STIs and their morbidities. She leads a project that is developing and evaluating a digital electronic medical record intervention for supporting syphilis testing in general practice. On the MoCCA study, she is responsible for engagement with our partner organisations and investigators and provides oversight for the study's implementation and quantitative aspects.

Dr Jacqueline Coombe, Research Fellow

 Dr Jacqueline Coombe is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She has been working in sexual and reproductive health research for nearly a decade, and has extensive experience conducting research with people about their interactions with the healthcare system when accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare. On the MoCCA study, she is responsible for the qualitative aspects of the project and keeping the website up to date. 

Helen Bittleston, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate

Helen Bittleston is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on young people's sexual health, and more specifically their access to sexual health care in general practice. Helen is a mixed-methods researcher, with experience conducting and analysing online surveys examining young peoples and health care providers views on sexual health care. She provides research support for the day to day running and resource development for the MoCCA project.

Dr Steph Munari, PhD Candidate

Dr Steph Munari is a public health physician and PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne and Burnet Institute. Her PhD is focusing on improving the prevention and management of chlamydia and pelvic inflammatory disease in general practice. She has been working in public health research for over three years, where her work has focused on the impacts of COVID-19 government restrictions and hepatitis C virus retesting. On the MoCCA study, she will be looking into chlamydia retesting, including the uptake of postal retesting kits.

Professor Meredith Temple Smith, Investigator

Professor Meredith Temple-Smith is the Director of Research Training in the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne where her role focuses on increasing the research capacity of primary care clinicians and conducting primary care research. A mixed methods researcher, her interests centre on sexual health and health services research. She contributes her knowledge and practical advice on general practice recruitment and on the uptake of the MOCCA study in primary care.

Project Investigators

The MoCCA Project is a partnership between the University of Melbourne and:

• NSW Health

• Victorian Government Department of Health

• Queensland Health

• VCS Foundation

• North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network (NWMPHN)

• Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network (CESPHN)

• Sydney Sexual Health Centre

• Family Planning NSW

• True Relationships & Reproductive Health (QLD)

• Sexual Health Victoria (formerly Family Planning Victoria)