Dr Joanne O'Toole - Researcher Profile

Biography

Joanne O’Toole has over 25 years’ experience as a water microbiologist and consultant for government and private industry organisations. Her expertise includes microbiological analyses, laboratory quality assurance systems, water quality monitoring and results interpretation. She is also expert in public health aspects of water supplies, including the health impact associated with the presence of pathogens in drinking, recreational and other water types. She has experience in laboratory management and accreditation and has represented government and water industry bodies on Australian Standards committees. She has also been involved with numerous water quality investigations of rural water supplies in Victoria, Australia and has worked as a technical consultant providing expert microbiological advice relating to both food and water testing. She commenced her research career in 2004 at Monash University and was awarded her PhD in 2009. She has published in the area of exposure assessment, recycled water and health risk assessment. She has been awarded a 2010 National Water Commission Fellowship and an NHMRC Training Fellowship 2011-2014.

Qualifications

EPIDEMIOLOGY

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2009

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Institution: Swinburne University of Technology

Year awarded: 2004

BACHELOR OF APPLIED SCIENCE

Institution: RMIT

Year awarded: 1978

Publications

Books

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2008, A series of exposure experiments- Recycled water and alternative water sources: Part B - Microbial transfer efficiency during machine clothes washing and microbial survival turf-grass experiments., Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment., South Australia.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2008, A series of exposure experiments-Recycled water and alternative water sources.: Part A: Aerosol-sizing and endotoxin experiments., Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment., South Australia.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2008, Study of water usage in urban areas, Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment., South Australia.

Journal Articles

Barker, S.F., O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., Malawaraarachchi, M.G., Hamilton, A.J., 2012, A probabilistic model of norovirus disease burden associated with greywater irrigation of home-produced lettuce in Melbourne, Australia., Water Research [P], vol 43, issue 3, I W A Publishing, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1421-1432.

Sinclair, M.I., O'Toole, J.E., Malawaraarachchi, M.G., Leder, K.S., 2012, Comparison of response rates and cost-effectiveness for a community-based survey: postal, internet and telephone modes with generic or personalised recruitment approaches, BMC Medical Research Methodology [P], vol 12, issue Art. ID: 132, BioMed Central Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1-8.

Sinclair, M.I., O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Malawaraarachchi, M.G., 2012, Household behaviour and motivations for greywater use, Water [P], vol 2012, issue May, Australian Water Association, Australia, pp. 83-87.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Malawaraarachchi, M.G., Hamilton, A.J., Barker, S.F., Leder, K.S., 2012, Microbial quality assessment of household greywater, Water Research [P], vol 46, issue 13, I W A Publishing, United Kingdom, pp. 4301-4313.

O'Toole, J., 2011, Monitoring microbiology wisely: a user's guide to monitoring program design and collection of exposure data, Microbiology [P], vol Paper, M A I K Nauka - Interperiodica, Russian Federation, pp. 82-86.

Malawaraarachchi, M., O'Toole, J., Sinclair, M., Leder, K., 2011, Review of Greywater use in Australia : A national policy would simplify implementation, Water [P], vol 38, issue 4, Australian Water Association, Australia, pp. 97-101.

McGain, F., Sussex, G., O'Toole, J., Story, D., 2011, What makes metalware single-use?, Anaesthesia And Intensive Care [P], vol 39, issue 5, Australian Society of Anaesthetists, Australia, pp. 973-974.

Sinclair, M., O'Toole, J., Forbes, A., Carr, D., Leder, K., 2010, Health status of residents of an urban dual reticulation system, International Journal of Epidemiology [P], vol 39, issue 6 (Art. No: dyq152), Oxford University Press, UK, pp. 1667-1675.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2010, Quantitative microbial risk assessment and Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling: Two case studies, Food Australia [P], vol 62, issue 9, Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology Inc., Australia, pp. 408-412.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2009, Collecting household water usage data: Telephone questionnaire or diary?, BMC Medical Research Methodology [P], vol 9, issue 72, BioMed Central Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1-11.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Jeavons, T.H., Leder, K.S., 2009, Influence of sample preservation on endotoxin measurement in water, Water Science And Technology [P], vol 60, issue 6, I W A Publishing, London, United Kingdom, pp. 1615-1619.

O'Toole, J.E., Keywood, M., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2009, Risk in the mist? Deriving data to quantify microbial health risks associated with aerosol generation by water-efficient devices during typical domestic water-using activities, Water Science And Technology [P], vol 60, issue 11, I W A Publishing, UK, pp. 2913-2920.

O'Toole, J.E., Rodrigo, S., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2009, The Australian Electoral Commission Roll has good utility for 'niche' household recruitment in population health studies, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health..., vol 33, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Australia, pp. 137-139.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2009, Transfer rates of enteric microorganisms in recycled water during machine clothes washing, Applied And Environmental Microbiology [P], vol 75, issue 5, American Society for Microbiology, USA, pp. 1256-1263.

Leder, K.S., O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., 2009, Water recycling - forwards or backwards for public health?, Medical Journal Of Australia [P], vol 190, issue 6, Australasian Medical Publishing Company Pty. Ltd, Australia, pp. 293-294.

Leder, K.S., O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., 2009, Water recycling- forwards or backwards for public health?, Medical Journal Of Australia [P], vol 191, issue 4, Australasian Medical Publishing Co Ltd, Pyrmont, NSW, p. 239.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Jeavons, T.H., Leder, K.S., 2008, Alternative water sources and endotoxin, Water Science and Technology, vol 58, issue 3, IWA Publishing, UK, pp. 603-607.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Diaper, C., Leder, K.S., 2008, Comparative survival of enteric indicators, E. coli and somatic and F-RNA bacteriophages on turf-grass irrigated with recycled water, Water Science and Technology, vol 58, issue 3, IWA Publishing, United Kingdom, pp. 513-518.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2008, Maximising response rates in household telephone surveys, BMC Medical Research Methodology, vol 8, issue 71, BioMed Central Ltd., United Kingdom, pp. 1-5.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2008, Recycled water exposure: Filling the data gaps, Water [P], vol 35, issue 8, Australian Water Association, Australia, pp. 52-57.

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2008, Using bacteriophages in recycled water exposure assessment studies, Food and Environmental Virology, vol 0, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 0-1.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2007, Recycled water and human health effects, Australian Family Physician, vol 36, issue 12, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia, pp. 998-1000.

Conference Proceedings

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2008, Recycled water guidelines: Do they hold up in the wash?, ASM 2008 Melbourne: Program and Abstract Book, 06/07/08 - 10/07/08, Cambridge Publishing, Western Australia, p. 144.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2007, Recycled water and health impact studies: Exposure matters!, Australian Epidemiologist, 26/08/07-29/08/07, Australasian Epidemiological Association, Australia, p. 115.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., 2006, Not another telemarketing call - it's dinner time! Challenges for telephone surveys in the modern era, Australasian Epidemiologist, 18-19 September 2006, Australasian Epidemiological Association, Canberra ACT Australia, p. 35.

O'Toole, J.E., Leder, K.S., Sinclair, M.I., Jeavons, T.H., 2006, Water sample preservation for endotoxin analysis, ASM 2006 - Gold Coast Program and Abstracts Book, 2-6 July 2006, The Australian Society for Microbiology, West Leederville WA Australia, p. 163.

Other

O'Toole, J.E., Sinclair, M.I., Leder, K.S., 2008, Health risk assessment?Recycled Water Project 33V-4009, State Government Victoria, Victoria, pp. 1-62.