Yumi is a Senior Research Fellow in the Viral Immunology Systems Program (VISP) at the Kirby Institute, where she leads the program’s prison-focused hepatitis C research team. Her research primarily focusses on improving hepatitis C care in prisons, with specific expertise in point-of-care testing, models of care, health literacy, education, and surveillance. Yumi’s research interests span the full spectrum of prison-based hepatitis C care — from advocacy, to testing and treatment, prevention, and modelling and health economics. She also leads the Australian National Prisons Hepatitis Network and its international counterpart, INHSU Prisons, and has developed both national and global best practice guidelines for the management of viral hepatitis in prisons.
Publications
Journal articles
Bah R; Sheehan Y; Li X; Price N; Butler T; Dore GJ; Grebely J; Lloyd AR; Hajarizadeh B, 2025, 'Challenges and facilitators in repeated bio-behavioural surveys for blood-borne virus infections in Australian prisons', International Journal of Drug Policy, 144, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104401
2025
Walker SJ; Dawson O; Sheehan Y; Shrestha LB; Lloyd AR; Sheehan J; Maduka N; Cabezas J; Kronfli N; Akiyama MJ, 2024, 'Co-designing the INHSU Prisons Hepatitis C Advocacy Toolkit using the Advocacy Strategy Framework', International Journal of Drug Policy, 134, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104628
2024
Bah R; Sheehan Y; Li X; Dore GJ; Grebely J; Lloyd AR; Hajarizadeh B; Bah R; Li C; Byrne M; Butler T; Musarurwa B; Hooshmand E; Simpson A; Alrayyani M; Price N; Groom M, 2024, 'Prevalence of blood-borne virus infections and uptake of hepatitis C testing and treatment in Australian prisons: the AusHep study', Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, 53, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101240
2024
Sheehan Y; Cochrane A; Treloar C; Grebely J; Tedla N; Lloyd AR; Lafferty L, 2024, 'Understanding hepatitis C virus (HCV) health literacy and educational needs among people in prison to enhance HCV care in prisons', International Journal of Drug Policy, 130, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104516
2024
Sheehan Y; Lafferty L; Tedla N; Byrne M; Dawson O; Stewart S; Leber B; Habraken N; Lloyd AR, 2024, 'Development of an evidence-based hepatitis C education program to enhance public health literacy in the Australian prison sector: The Hepatitis in Prisons Education program (HepPEd)', International Journal of Drug Policy, 129, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104461
2024
Sheehan Y; Grebely J; Lloyd AR, 2024, 'Reply to: “ ‘One-stop-shop’ point-of-care hepatitis C RNA testing intervention in the prison – some issues”', Journal of Hepatology, 80, pp. e107 - e108, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2023.10.020
2024
Walker SJ; Shrestha LB; Lloyd AR; Dawson O; Sheehan Y; Sheehan J; Maduka NBC; Cabezas J; Akiyama MJ; Kronfli N, 2024, 'Barriers and advocacy needs for hepatitis C services in prisons: Informing the prisons hepatitis C advocacy toolkit', International Journal of Drug Policy, 126, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104386
2024
Winter RJ; Griffin S; Sheehan Y; Nguyen W; Stoové M; Lloyd AR; Thompson AJ, 2024, 'People in community corrections are a population with unmet need for viral hepatitis care', Eclinicalmedicine, 70, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102548
2024
Lafferty L; Sheehan Y; Cochrane A; Grebely J; Lloyd AR; Treloar C, 2023, 'Reducing barriers to the hepatitis C care cascade in prison via point-of-care RNA testing: a qualitative exploration of men in prison using an integrated framework', Addiction, 118, pp. 1153 - 1160, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/add.16137
2023
Shih STF; Cheng Q; Carson J; Valerio H; Sheehan Y; Gray RT; Cunningham EB; Kwon JA; Lloyd AR; Dore GJ; Wiseman V; Grebely J, 2023, 'Optimizing point-of-care testing strategies for diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in Australia: a model-based cost-effectiveness analysis', Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific, 36, pp. 100750, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2023.100750
2023
Grebely J; Markus C; Causer LM; Silk D; Comben S; Lloyd AR; Martinez M; Cunningham EB; O'Flynn M; Dore GJ; Matthews S, 2023, 'A national programme to scale-up decentralised hepatitis C point-of-care testing and treatment in Australia', The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 8, pp. 204 - 207, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(22)00355-7
2023
Sheehan Y; Cunningham EB; Cochrane A; Byrne M; Brown T; McGrath C; Lafferty L; Tedla N; Dore GJ; Lloyd AR; Grebely J, 2023, 'A ‘one-stop-shop’ point-of-care hepatitis C RNA testing intervention to enhance treatment uptake in a reception prison: The PIVOT study', Journal of Hepatology, 79, pp. 635 - 644, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2023.04.019
2023
Winter RJ; Sheehan Y; Papaluca T; Macdonald GA; Rowland J; Colman A; Stoove M; Lloyd AR; Thompson AJ, 2023, 'Consensus recommendations on the management of hepatitis C in Australia's prisons', Medical Journal of Australia, 218, pp. 231 - 237, http://dx.doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51854
2023
Akiyama MJ; Kronfli N; Cabezas J; Sheehan Y; Scheibe A; Brahni T; Naik K; Mashabela P; Chan P; Luhmann N; Lloyd AR, 2022, 'The role of low-income and middle-income country prisons in eliminating hepatitis C', Lancet Public Health, 7, pp. e578 - e579, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00119-0
2022
Lafferty L; Cochrane A; Sheehan Y; Treloar C; Grebely J; Lloyd AR, 2022, '“That was quick, simple, and easy”: Patient perceptions of acceptability of point-of-care hepatitis C RNA testing at a reception prison', International Journal of Drug Policy, 99, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103456
2022
Akiyama MJ; Kronfli N; Cabezas J; Sheehan Y; Thurairajah PH; Lines R; Lloyd AR, 2021, 'Hepatitis C elimination among people incarcerated in prisons: challenges and recommendations for action within a health systems framework', Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 6, pp. 391 - 400, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30365-4
2021
Mcarthur G; Sheehan Y; Badcock NA; Francis DA; Wang HC; Kohnen S; Banales E; Anandakumar T; Marinus E; Castles A, 2018, 'Phonics training for English-speaking poor readers', Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2018, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009115.pub3
2018
Conference Presentations
Lafferty L; Sheehan Y; Cochrane A; Grebely J; Lloyd A; Treloar C, 2022, 'The role of point-of-care hepatitis C RNA testing at prison intake for reducing barriers to the hepatitis C care cascade', presented at Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference, Brisbane, 29 May 2022 - 31 May 2022
2022
Preprints
Shih STF; Cheng Q; Carson J; Valerio H; Sheehan Y; Gray RT; Cunningham EB; Kwon J; Lloyd AR; Dore GJ; Wiseman V; Grebely J, Optimizing Point-of-Care Testing Strategies for Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Australia: A Model-Based Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4267527
Shih STF; Cheng Q; Carson J; Valerio H; Sheehan Y; Gray RT; Cunningham EB; Kwon J; Lloyd AR; Dore GJ; Wiseman V; Grebely J, Optimizing Point-of-Care Testing Strategies for Diagnosis and Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Australia: A Model-Based Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4267510