Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, MVEC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute 

Nigel is a consultant general paediatrician and Head of the Immunisation service at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. He completed a Masters of Public Health at Cardiff University (2006) and vaccinology PhD at the University of Melbourne (2011). He is also Director of SAEFVIC, the Victorian vaccine safety service, based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and helped establish the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC). Nigel is a Professor at the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne and his research interests include vaccine safety, immunisation of special risk groups and emerging infections, particularly those that may soon be vaccine preventable. He has been a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) since 2014 and became Chair in 2021.

Ms Rachael McGuire
Education Nurse Coordinator, MVEC

Rachael is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and experienced paediatric Registered Nurse. She has a strong interest in the immunisation of special risk groups, including those with immunosuppression, as well as vaccine safety. She is passionate about immunisation education and has recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education.

Dr Sally Gordon
Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

Dr Sally Gordon is a paediatric and public health medicine registrar combining a career in clinical medicine and public/global health with a special interest in healthy equity and community empowerment. In 2021, she worked for the Victorian Department of Health COVID-19 Vaccination Program, including as manager of the Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS) during its inauguration.  

Prof Tony Cunningham
Director, Centre for Virus Research (WIMR) and Professor, Faculty Medicine and Health, University of Sydney 

Professor Cunningham is a highly experienced viral immunologist, infectious diseases clinician and scientist, well known internationally for his research on the immunology of HIV and herpesviruses, his work on vaccine development and trialing, especially for shingles and herpes, and as an antiviral expert. Prof Cunningham has been a longstanding global consultant to GSK, Seqirus and Merck on vaccines in the ageing and for shingles and herpes and recently to Moderna and Novavax for COVID vaccines. 

A/Prof Benjamin Teh
Infectious Diseases Physician, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre 

A/Prof Benjamin Teh is an infectious diseases physician and clinical researcher at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the National Centre for Infections in Cancer. His research interests encompass translational immune profiling, clinical studies of infection risks with new cancer therapies and vaccination in cancer patients. 

A/Prof Hazel Clothier
Epidemiologist, Health Informatics, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute 

A/Prof Hazel Clothier is Lead Epidemiologist and Surveillance Manager, Vaccine Safety Signal Detection & Investigation at SAEFVIC, Victoria’s Vaccine Safety Service. Hazel is experienced in public health and infectious diseases epidemiology with particular interest in vaccine preventable diseases, outbreak management and infectious disease surveillance system design and evaluation. 

Ms Sarah Pitts
Immunisation Nurse, Monash Health

Sarah is an accredited Nurse Immuniser of 20 years and experienced paediatric Registered Nurse. She has been working with Monash Health as a senior immunisation nurse for the last 10 years, specialising in paediatric and adult high-risk patients, including antenatal clients and collaborates closely on AEFI’s with SAEFVIC. Sarah also holds the position of a Nurse Immuniser with a local council and FITS private travel clinic at Cabrini Health. Sarah is passionate about equitable vaccine access and excellent immunisation practice. 

Ms Georgina Lewis
Clinical Manager, SAEFVIC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Georgina is the Clinical Manager of SAEFVIC. She is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and works as a casual Nurse Immuniser with a local council. Her special interests include vaccine safety, surveillance, education and immunisation research. 

Dr Jenny O’Neill
Clinical Nurse Consultant Bioethics, Royal Children’s Hospital 

Dr Jenny O’Neill Jenny is a Clinical Nurse Consultant in Nursing Research and in Bioethics at RCH and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Melbourne. She completed a PhD in 2020 with her thesis exploring immunisation for young people with disabilities through the School Immunisation Program in Victoria and has since undertaken a Masters in Bioethics. Jenny’s research interests include health equity for young people with disabilities, sexual health needs of adolescents, ethical aspects of holding children for procedures, and family centred care. 

Dr Georgina Hall
Clinical Ethicist, Royal Children’s Hospital 

Dr Georgina Hall Georgina is a foundation member of the Clinical Ethics team at the RCH and leads the CBC’s Education & Training program. Georgina’s research interests include reproductive ethics and ART regulation, paediatric issues including the ethics of social media in healthcare and medical decision-making with children. She supervises medical student research projects, develops online e-learning modules, chairs the RCH monthly Bioethics Forum and is a member of the RCH Clinical Ethics Response Group.

Dr Jane Tuckerman
Senior Research Officer, Vaccine Uptake, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute 

Dr Jane Tuckerman is a Senior Research Officer at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She works with the Vaccine Uptake, SAEFVIC and Respiratory Groups. Jane holds honorary appointments with The University of Melbourne and the Royal Children’s Hospital. Jane is motivated by research translated into health system and hospital policy changes, in particular supporting vaccine service delivery for prioritised and hard-to reach populations most impacted by health policy. With SAEFVIC, she contributes to clinical studies on infectious diseases, including RSV and COVID-19. 

Dr Linny Phuong
Paedatric Infectious Disease Physician, Royal Children’s Hospital and Founder and Director, The Water Well Project 

Dr Linny Kimly Phuong is a paediatric infectious diseases physician who has current appointments at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Cabrini Health and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). Linny researches paediatric infections with special interests in streptococcal disease, Kawasaki disease and vaccine safety. She is a PhD candidate with the University of Melbourne. Linny contributes to national and international infectious diseases committees including Australia & New Zealand Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ANZPID) and the World Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID). Her passion is improving health equity with a focus on accessibility in health communication.

Dr Angela Berkhout
Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician, The Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane 

Dr Angela Berkhout is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases and General Paediatrician, currently based at The Queensland Children’s Hospital and working with The Queensland Statewide Immunisation Service. She is also a PhD candidate with the University of Queensland investigating Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infection in infancy and HSV meningo-encephalitis in children. 

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Ms Mel Addison
Immunisation Research Nurse, SAEFVIC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute 

Mel is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and experienced paediatric Dermatology Nurse Consultant.  She has a Graduate Diploma in Public Health. Her current position as a Research Nurse with SAEFVIC (MCRI) incorporates her strong interest in paediatrics and vaccine safety. She is also passionate about immunisation education. She has also worked as a nurse immuniser with a local council for 10 years.

Dr Ingrid Laemmle-Ruff
Immunisation Consultant, SAEFVIC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Dr Ingrid Laemmle-Ruff is a general paediatrician and public health physician. She works in vaccine safety at SAEFVIC and in community paediatrics. She has interests in immunisation, immigrant health and child public health.  

Ms Adele Harris
Immunisation Research Nurse, SAEFVIC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Adele is an accredited nurse immuniser and a research nurse at SAEFVIC. Her interests include vaccine safety and surveillance, immunisation research and education, and vaccine allergy. 

Dr Sarah McGuinness
Senior Research Fellow, Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Unit, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University

Sarah is an academic infectious diseases physician with a special interest in travel medicine. She runs the Alfred Hospital’s Travel Medicine Clinic and is a Senior Research Fellow at Monash University. Her research centres on improving strategies to combat preventable infections in travellers and other at-risk populations, both locally and globally, with a particular focus on the Asia-Pacific region. 

Prof Michelle Giles
Infectious Diseases Physician, Alfred Hospital, Monash Health, and the Royal Women’s Hospital 

Professor Michelle Giles is Deputy Chair of ATAGI. She is an Infectious Diseases Physician who combines her private practice with public hospital appointments at the Alfred Hospital, Monash Health, and the Royal Women’s Hospital. She is able to provide specialist consultation in all aspects of general infectious diseases but particularly specialises in infections and pregnancy and maternal immunisation. 

Benzen Video Productions

Since 2014, Benzen Video Productions has been working closely with healthcare organisations to create educational, training and promotional content. Our clients include: MCRI, RCH, RMH, The Royal Women’s Hospital, VCGS, RANZCOG, Epworth, The Austin, St John Ambulance Victoria, Quit and more.  We can supply producing, directing, filming and editing services.

Rachael McGuire
Education Nurse Coordinator, MVEC

Rachael is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and experienced paediatric Registered Nurse. She has a strong interest in the immunisation of special risk groups, including those with immunosuppression, as well as vaccine safety. She is passionate about immunisation education and is currently working towards a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Education.

Julia Smith 
Immunisation Fellow, The Royal Children’s Hospital 

Julia is a paediatric registrar in her penultimate year of training and is the current Immunisation Fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Julia’s interests include immunisation safety and she is currently undertaking research in this area through SAEFVIC. Her other interests include clinical education and global health.

Dr Daryl Cheng
Medical Lead, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

Dr Daryl Cheng is a consultant paediatrician and clinical informatician with a special interest in immunisation and travel medicine, based at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and Monash Health. He also has clinical research and educational appointments at SAEFVIC & MVEC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.

HIs keen interests in health informatics and healthcare systems are fostered through roles with the Melbourne Children’s Centre for Health Analytics and the RCH Strategy, Quality & Improvement Team.

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre and SAEFVIC

A/Prof Crawford is a consultant paediatrician and vaccinologist. He is also the Director of SAEFVIC based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), Head of Immunisation Services at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Chair of the Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS). In 2021, A/Prof Crawford was appointed the Chair of the Australian Therapeutic Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). He is an expert in the vaccination of special risk groups, a member of the ATAGI COVID-19 Working Group Executive, Chair of ATAGI Subgroup #3 (Vaccine Safety), Chair of Vaccine Safety Committee (B Part of It NT Study), Member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) COVID-19 vaccine Expert Advisory Group (EAG) of the Department Health Canberra, and Member of the Victorian Department of Health COVID-19 vaccine Expert Advisory Group (EAG).

Prof Jim Buttery
Group Leader, Health Informatics, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Prof Buttery is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and vaccinologist. He is the inaugural Professor of Child Health Informatics at the University of Melbourne. He is Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection at SAEFVIC (MCRI) and Chief Clinical Research Information Officer and Infectious Diseases Physician at The Royal Children’s Hospital. Prof Buttery also serves as a member of the Australian Medical Services Advisory Committee, member of the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) Advisory Committee on Vaccines, member of the Centre for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation, SPEAC meta-DSMB COVID vaccines, and member of DSMB, COVID vaccine candidate, Serum Institute of India.

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre and SAEFVIC

A/Prof Crawford is a consultant paediatrician and vaccinologist. He is also the Director of SAEFVIC based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), Head of Immunisation Services at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), Chair of the Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS). In 2021, A/Prof Crawford was appointed the Chair of the Australian Therapeutic Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI). He is an expert in the vaccination of special risk groups, a member of the ATAGI COVID-19 Working Group Executive, Chair of ATAGI Subgroup #3 (Vaccine Safety), Chair of Vaccine Safety Committee (B Part of It NT Study), Member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) COVID-19 vaccine Expert Advisory Group (EAG) of the Department Health Canberra, and Member of the Victorian Department of Health COVID-19 vaccine Expert Advisory Group (EAG).

A/Prof Michael Murray AM
President, National Ageing Research Institute (NARI)
A/Prof Murray is the President of the Board of the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI). He has a broad range of management, clinical and clinical teaching experience in the area of aged care.

A/Prof Murray is the medical director of Continuing Care and head of Geriatric Medicine at Austin Health, Associate Professor at Melbourne University and Adjunct Associate Professor Australian Centre for Evidence Based Aged Care, La Trobe University, and formerly the University of Notre Dame. He holds a number of board and committee positions with a variety of government, health and educational institutions and has held the position of Continence Foundation of Australia National President since 2004.

As a geriatrician, A/Prof Murray was a lead in the Victorian Aged Care Response Centre, which brought together federal and state agencies to tackle the COVID-19 crisis in Victorian residential aged care homes.

A/Prof Sheena Sullivan
Senior Epidemiologist, Peter Doherty Institute

A/Prof Sheena Sullivan holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.  Sheena was appointed in 2011 as the inaugural epidemiologist for the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza. She works with sentinel surveillance programs in Australia to estimate vaccine effectiveness and safety, and to understand the validity of the methods used to conduct these studies. She also works closely with national and regional partners including the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US to improve influenza surveillance. She holds adjunct appointments at the University of Melbourne and the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also a proxy member of the National Influenza Surveillance Committee.

Dr Angela Berkhout

Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist, Microbiology Department, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Dr Angie Berkhout is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist currently working in the Microbiology Department at the Royal Children’s Hospital. She is a PhD candidate with the University of Queensland and is a MCRI Clinical Research Fellow and has been working with MVEC over the last 6 months.

Dr Daryl Cheng
MBBS, MPH, FRACP Medical Lead, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

Dr Cheng is a general paediatrician who works at The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He has special interests in immunisation, education and health informatics.

A/Prof Nicholas Cox
Clinical Associate Professor, University of Melbourne, Director Cardiology at Western Health, Victoria, Australia

Associate Professor Nicholas Cox is an interventional cardiologist with an interest in infarct angioplasty and cardiogenic shock. Nicholas was an early advocate for the use of radial access for coronary intervention and has published in this field. He has performed a very high number of coronary interventions in over 15 years of practice as an interventional cardiologist. A/Prof Cox consults in all aspects of general cardiology, including the diagnosis and management of patients presenting with coronary disease, heart attack and chest pain. He currently consults in Richmond, Glen Waverley and Sunshine.

Nicholas is a Director of the Heart Foundation Advisory Board and on the Epworth Hospital Cardiac Sciences Clinical Institute Committee. He is the Director of Cardiology for Western Health (Sunshine and Footscray Hospitals) where he manages the largest acute infarct angioplasty service in the state of Victoria.

Nicholas trained at Melbourne University, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney, and The Brigham and Women’s’ Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Dr Bo Remenyi 
Paediatric Cardiologist, Royal Darwin Hospital

Dr Bo Remenyi is a paediatric cardiologist, PhD scholar and a former scientific advisor for the World Heart Federation on rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. She is the 2018 Australian of the Year for the Northern Territory. Dr Remenyi received her medical degree from the University of Queensland and currently works as a paediatric cardiologist at the Royal Darwin Hospital and services many remote Indigenous communities. She also undertakes humanitarian work with Rotary in resource-poor countries in our region. Both as a clinician and as a researcher, Dr Remenyi’s interests lie in prevention and early detection of rheumatic heart disease.

Dr Amanda Buttery BAppSci MSc PhD
Manager, Clinical Evidence, Heart Foundation      

Amanda leads the development of the National Heart Foundation’s clinical agenda and manages strategic clinical projects and the development of evidenced based position statements, policies and guidelines. She has 25 years of international health care experience and has an MSc and PhD in Gerontology from King’s College London. Her practice and research in health service delivery, evaluation and national audits has spanned the UK, Germany and Australia. Amanda publishes and presents regularly at conferences on heart health, ageing, long-term conditions and health policy.

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia
Chair, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI)

Associate Professor Crawford is a vaccinologist and consultant paediatrician with a strong track record in vaccine safety research. His main research activities are in the fields of vaccine safety and surveillance, COVID-19 in families and children, special risk group’s immunisation, vaccine preventable diseases epidemiology including emerging infections (RSV and invasive Group A streptococcus (iGAS)) and immunisation, and public health policy development. He is the Director of SAEFVIC (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) and Head of Immunisation Services at The Royal Children’s Hospital. He is currently a senior medical advisor to the Victorian Department Health COVID-19 vaccine and is Chair of the Victorian Specialist Immunisation services (VicSIS). Most recently on 1^st July 2021, he was appointed the new Chair of ATAGI and is also on the COVID-19 ATAGI executive and chair of Subgroup#3 which includes vaccine safety, monitoring, evaluation, communication and confidence.

Dr Daryl Cheng
MBBS, MPH, FRACP Medical Lead, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

Dr Cheng is a general paediatrician who works at The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He has special interests in immunisation, education and health informatics.

Mel Addison
Immunisation Nurse, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia

Mel is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and experienced paediatric Nurse Consultant in Dermatology.  She has a Graduate Diploma in Public Health. Her current position as a Research Nurse with SAEFVIC (MCRI) incorporates her strong interest in paediatrics and vaccine safety. She is also passionate about immunisation education. Mel has worked as a casual Nurse Immuniser with a local council for 10 years.

Adele Harris
Immunisation Nurse, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia

Adele is an accredited nurse immuniser and a research nurse at SAEFVIC. Her interests include vaccine safety and surveillance, immunisation research and education, and vaccine allergy.

Dr Sally Gordon
Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS) Manager, COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Department of Health, Victoria

Dr Sally Gordon is the manager of the Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS) of the Victorian Department of Health COVID-19 Vaccine Program. She has been working in the COVID-19 response team throughout the pandemic. Sally is a paediatric registrar by training and is combining a career in clinical medicine and public health to advance health equity.

Professor Jim Buttery
Medical Advisor, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre      

Prof Buttery is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and vaccinologist. He is the inaugural Professor of Child Health Informatics at the University of Melbourne. He is Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal detection at SAEFVIC (MCRI) and Chief Clinical Research Information Officer & Infectious Diseases Physician at The Royal Children’s Hospital. Prof Buttery also serves as a member of the Strategic Priority Group of WHO Global Vaccine Safety Initiative, the Australian Medical Services Advisory Committee, and the TGA Advisory Committee on Vaccines.

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia  

Associate Professor Crawford is a vaccinologist and consultant paediatrician, Director of SAEFVIC (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute) and Head of Immunisation Services at The Royal Children’s Hospital. He is an expert in the vaccination of special risk groups (e.g. immunosuppressed patients), a member of ATAGI and the co-lead of AEFI-CAN.

Dr Daryl Cheng
MBBS, MPH, FRACP Medical Advisor, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

Dr Cheng is a general paediatrician who works at The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. He has special interests in immunisation, education and health informatics.

Professor Jim Buttery
Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, SAEFVIC (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute)    

Prof Jim Buttery is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and vaccinologist. He is the inaugural Professor of Child Health Informatics at the University of Melbourne. He is Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal detection at SAEFVIC (MCRI) and Chief Clinical Research Information Officer & Infectious Diseases Physician at The Royal Children’s Hospital. Prof Buttery also serves as a member of the Strategic Priority Group of WHO Global Vaccine Safety Initiative, the Australian Medical Services Advisory Committee, and the TGA Advisory Committee on Vaccines.

Professor Paul Monagle
Professor of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne 

Prof Paul Monagle is a past chair of the paediatric/perinatal Scientific Subcommittee of ISTH; leader ACCP /ASH antithrombotic guidelines in children for almost 2 decades; member of PODIUM, PEACE initiatives driving research in complex coagulopathies of childhood, and a key player in the Einstein Junior studies of rivaroxaban. Co-author of multiple textbooks; 40 chapters in major international textbooks; over 300 publications, with over 10000 citations.

Paul has long term interests in reference ranges and normative data, epidemiology of thrombosis in children, paediatric stroke, age related changes in anticoagulant use and monitoring and anticoagulant clinical trials.  Over the last 12 months he has been actively involved in research related to SarsCoV-2 and clotting.