J’Belle Foster
J’Belle Foster is a Nurse and PhD Scholar and passionate about translational research in rural and remote primary healthcare settings.
After completing her Master of Public Health/Master of International Public Health, J’Belle worked in Nepal for the Nepal Red Cross Society and for an NGO managing remote area health camps and Directly Observed Therapy programs for tuberculosis (TB) patients. J’Belle then managed an active TB case finding study with the World Health Organization and Johns Hopkins University in Northern India with the Tibetan refugee population.
After India, J’Belle secured the TB Clinical Nurse Consultant position within the Qld Department of Health. In 2014, the Qld Chief Health Officer supported her move to the Torres Strait to work on a Federally funded cross-border Torres Strait / Papua New Guinea (PNG) TB project. At this time, she discovered a lot of gaps in TB service delivery, and in early 2015, wrote the business proposal and secured funding to establish the Torres and Cape TB Control Unit.
In April 2023, J’Belle submitted her PhD thesis which aimed to add to the existing body of evidence by examining the epidemiological profile of TB in the Torres Strait/PNG international border population to inform changes to local policy that will result in improved patient outcomes, lives saved, improved diagnostics, increased collaboration and better overall management of TB in the region.