Annual Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) – Monday 30 October 2023
The 2023 Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) was held at the University of Melbourne on Monday 30 October 2023.
MVEC’s annual CVU offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to hear from leading experts on the latest developments and trends in immunisation. The CVU is a face-to-face, full-day event including keynote sessions, interactive breakout sessions, and the opportunity to connect and network with peers.
Morning tea and lunch will be provided.
For regular updates from MVEC, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us @mvecau on Instagram and Twitter and at Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre – MVEC on Facebook.
Ticket information
Registration fee: from $150 per person
Dietary requirements: Please advise of any dietary requirements when registering.
Following the event, we will email you a link to complete a short evaluation survey and an attendance certificate for professional development requirements.
If you cannot attend the CVU, you will be able to register after the event to view presentation recordings on our Education Portal. (Recordings will be free to all event attendees and can be purchased by anyone who did not attend the event.)
Event details
Date: Monday 30 October 2023
Time: 8:55 am–3:15 pm AEDT (registration will open from 8:15 am)
Venue: B1 level, Glyn Davis Building (Melbourne School of Design) – find directions below
Please note, we will be updating the event program with more details as we get closer to the CVU.
(If you are having trouble viewing the table on mobile, try rotating your screen to landscape mode, or view the web version on a computer instead.)
2023 CVU Program | |||
8:15 am–8:55 am | Registration | ||
8:55 am–9:00 am | Acknowledgement of country Prof Nigel Crawford | ||
9:00 am–10:40 am | Opening plenary: Shingrix Chair: Prof Nigel Crawford Presenters: Prof Tony Cunningham Title: An update on immunisation for Shingles in immunocompetent people A/Prof Benjamin Teh Title: Shingrix vaccine in immunocompromised populations A/Prof Hazel Clothier Title: Victoria's Vaccine Vigilance Vision Q&A panel joined by the Victorian Department of Health Immunisation Section | ||
10:40 am–11:20 am | Morning tea break and exhibitions Benzen Video Productions Immunisation Nurses Special Interest Group Incorporated Spleen Australia | ||
11:20 am–1:00 pm | Interactive breakout sessions Please note, recordings of all sessions (including breakouts) will be made available after the CVU | ||
Glyn Davis theatre | Singapore theatre | Malaysia theatre | |
11:20 am–11:50 am | Title: Pre-vaccination screening - what to do if the answer is yes? Presenter: Ms Sarah Pitts | Title: Multiple vaccines - the what, where and how Presenter: Ms Georgina Lewis | Title: Ethical challenges in adolescent consent Presenters: Dr Jenny O'Neill Dr Georgina Hall |
11:55 am–12:25 pm | Title: Supporting vaccination for adolescents with disability in special schools Presenter: Dr Jane Tuckerman | Title: Rashes post vaccines- cause, coincidence, contraindication Presenter: Ms Mel Addison | Title: A thousand meaningful conversations- The Water Well Project, a case study of successful community engagement Presenter: Dr Linny Phuong |
12:30 pm–1:00 pm | Title: Vaccination recommendations for infants exposed to maternal immunosuppression Presenter: Dr Angela Berkhout | Title: Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) Presenters: Dr Ingrid Laemmle-Ruff Ms Adele Harris | |
1:00 pm–2:00 pm | Lunch and exhibitions Benzen Video Productions Immunisation Nurses Special Interest Group Incorporated Spleen Australia | ||
2:05 pm-2:35 pm | Afternoon plenary: Re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases in a post-pandemic world Chair: Ms Rachael McGuire Presenter: Dr Sarah McGuinness | ||
2:35 pm–3:05 pm | Closing plenary: New vaccines - maternal Group B Strep Chair: Ms Rachael McGuire Presenter: Prof Michelle Giles | ||
3:05 pm–3:15 pm | Closing and thank you: Ms Rachael McGuire | ||
3:15 pm–3:30 pm | Exhibitions Benzen Video Productions Immunisation Nurses Special Interest Group Incorporated Spleen Australia |
Hosts

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.
Presenters

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.

Dr Jessica Stokes-Parish
Intensive Care Nurse & Educator, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Bond University
Jessica is a practicing intensive care nurse and educator, who holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Newcastle. In addition to 13+ years of bedside nursing, her areas of work include health professions workforce development, including policy, education and science communication. She loves nursing and all that it has brought her, so she’ll talk about that any chance she can get!

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.

Ms Lisa Timmins
Clinical Nurse Team Leader, Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd
Ms Lisa Timmins is the Clinical Nurse Team Leader of Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd.

Ms Joanne Clark
Maternal Child and Health Nurse, Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd
Ms Joanne Clark is the Maternal Child and Health Nurse of Ballarat and District Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd.

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.
Exhibitors

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.

Immunisation Nurses Special Interest Group Incorporated (INSIG Inc)
We were formally known as INSIG, a professional body of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Vic Branch. INSIG Inc aims to provide a forum that facilitates communication, discussion and encourages professional development for immunisation nurses and all those with a special interest in immunisation within the State of Victoria. We are excited to invite you to join as Foundation members. For more information, please express your interest via this email [email protected]

Spleen Australia is a public health initiative funded by the Departments of Health in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland. This clinical service aims to reduce serious bacterial infections (sepsis) in people without a functioning spleen. Over 13,000 people are registered. They have been referred to us via their specialists, GP or self-register. Registration and an abundance of information can be found on our website www.spleen.org.au. The service has demonstrated that it reduces sepsis in this patient group and is cost effective.
How to get there:
The CVU will be held on the B1 (basement) level of the Glyn Davis Building (Melbourne School of Design) at the University of Melbourne in Parkville.
NB: Please allow plenty of time to travel in case of road closures around the university or building sites on campus. Access a map of the University of Melbourne here if you wish to familiarise yourself with the campus.
Driving: Public parking is available nearby at Greenco Parking, 215 Elgin Street, Carlton.
Public transport: The nearest train station is Melbourne Central. From here you can catch a tram (15 mins) or walk (25 mins). Use trams 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67 or 72 for stop #1 Melbourne University/Swanston St. Use tram 19 for stop #12 Morrah St/Royal Pde.
On foot: From Swanston St, enter the university at Masson Rd (Gate 3), just south of the Ian Potter Museum of Art. Walk approx. 100 m and you will see the Glyn Davis Building on your right.
From Royal Pde, enter the university at Tin Alley (gate 14). Walk approx. 400 m then take the pedestrian path on your right, between the Baldwin Spencer Building and the Redmond Barry Building. In approx. 75 m you will reach the Glyn Davis Building on your left.
Immunisation Skills Workshop - Monday 20th March 2023
This full day interactive, face-to-face Immunisation Skills Workshop is our newest immunisation education opportunity designed to educate and upskill accredited immunisation providers on the principles and processes of managing:
- effective vaccine communication
- error prevention and management
- anaphylaxis and acute stress responses.
In this workshop attendees will hear from immunisation experts and be able to put their learnings into practice through participation in simulated scenarios.
Date: Monday, 20th March 2023
Time: 8:30am – 4:30pm AEST
Venue: HELP Precinct Level 1, The Royal Children’s Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville
Course fee: AUD $290.00 per person
Please note: This event will be fully catered. Attendees can claim up to 10 nursing CPD hours and up to 20 points of CPD for pharmacist immunisers (including preparation and reading time).
This workshop has now reached capacity. To join the waitlist should a place become available, please email [email protected].
March 2023 - Program | |||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Session | ||
8:00am - 8:30am | Registration | ||
8:30am - 8:40am | Welcome to Country Workshop welcome | ||
8:40am - 9:15am | Presentation: Adverse events following immunisation and how to manage them | ||
9:15am - 10:00am | Presentation: Vaccine communication - Vaccine hesitant families/patients - Addressing misinformation - How to approach consent discussions with conflicting opinions among parents | ||
10:00am - 10:30am | Morning tea | ||
10:30am - 11:15am | Presentation: Common vaccine errors and how to manage them - What is an error - Common errors - How errors can be avoided, open disclosure discussions, reporting errors | ||
11:15am - 12:00pm | Presentation: Acute stress responses vs anaphylaxis - What is an acute stress response? - What are the signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis? - How to differentiate between anaphylaxis and an acute stress response | ||
12:00pm - 12:45pm | Lunch | ||
12:45pm - 2:30pm | Putting learnings into practice - Vaccine errors simulation - Anaphylaxis vs acute stress response simulation - Vaccine communication simulation | ||
2:30pm - 3:00pm | Afternoon tea | ||
3:00pm - 3:40pm | Putting learnings into practice - Vaccine errors simulation - Anaphylaxis vs acute stress response simulation - Vaccine communication simulation | ||
3:40pm - 4:00pm | Evaluation survey and close |
FAQs
How is the Skills Workshop different from CVU?
The Skills Workshop is run for a much smaller group than our Clinical Vaccinology Updates. It is less data heavy and involves small group activities and participation in simulated scenarios, enabling participants to engage in their learning in a different way to CVU.
Who is the Skills Workshop for?
The Skills Workshop is for any immunisation provider who is looking to improve their vaccine communication skills, ability to differentiate between acute stress responses and anaphylaxis and prevent and manage vaccine errors. The workshop is particularly beneficial to those new to immunising or who have not immunised in sometime, however, immunisers with all levels of experience are welcome.
Do I have to take part in the simulated scenarios?
Yes! In the morning you will be able to hear from immunisation experts on adverse events following immunisation, management and prevention of vaccine errors, differentiating between an acute stress response and anaphylaxis and communicating with a vaccine hesitant individual. The afternoon is spent in a small group engaging in simulated scenarios enabling you to put the skills you have built knowledge on in the morning into practice. The simulations are conducted in a confidential and supportive environment, there is no pass or fail, only opportunities to learn and refine your practice!
How much pre-reading is required?
There is approximately 2 hours of recommended pre-reading prior to the workshop.
What about parking?
Parking is available onsite at RCH at a cost of $34 for the full day.
Alternatively, time-limited on-street parking is available in the surrounding streets.
The Royal Children’s Hospital is also accessible via tram routes 57, 58 and 59.
Is lunch provided?
Yes! This event is a fully catered event, with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea provided.
Any dietary requirements can be noted when registering for the event.
MVEC is proud to be affiliated with the following partners as part of the Immunisation Skills Workshop



Annual Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) - Friday 28th October 2022
The MVEC annual CVU on Friday 28th October has now concluded. The face-to-face event provided the opportunity for healthcare professionals to come together to hear from leading experts on the latest developments and trends in immunisation. The full-day conference included keynote sessions and interactive breakouts, as well as the opportunity to connect and network with peers.
We wish to sincerely thank all our speakers, industry partner exhibitors, venue sponsor and attendees for their participation.
Recording of the plenary sessions is now available, please register via the Education Portal
Event details
Date: Friday 28th October 2022
Time (AEDT): 9:00am – 4:15pm
Venue: Glyn Davis Building (School of Design), Basement 1, University of Melbourne, Masson Road, Parkville 3010
Directions: Driving – nearest Greenco Parking (215 Elgin St, Carlton 3053) / Public transport – trams 1, 16, 5, 6, 67: alight at Tram stop #1 – Melbourne University/Swanston St / By foot – from Tram stop #1 to Glyn Davis building on Masson Road: continue walking North along Swanston St until arriving on Masson Rd pedestrian path on the left (just before Ian Potter Museum of Art). Walk ~100m and the Glyn Davis Building is on the right.
Registration fee: from AUD $150.00 per person (early bird offer is now closed)
Dietary requirements: please advise of any dietary requirements when registering
Following the event, we will email you a link to complete a short evaluation survey, and a copy of your attendance certificate for professional development requirements.


Friday 28th October 2022 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Session | |
8:15am - 9:00am | Registration | |
9:00am - 12:55pm | Plenary | |
9:00am - 9:10am | Welcome to Country Conference welcome Hosts: Rachael McGuire and Francesca Machingaifa Education Nurse Coordinators, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) | |
9.15am - 9:55am | Plenary #1: Panel discussion - Vaccine misinformation - its impact on trust in healthcare and what we can do about it! Chair: A/Prof Margie Danchin, Consultant Paediatrician, RCH and Group Leader, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute Panel: Prof Julie Leask, Adjunct Professor, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health Dr Jessica Stokes-Parish, Intensive Care Nurse & Educator, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Bond University Ms Selba-Gondoza Luka, Founder and CEO, Afri-Aus Care Inc. | |
10:00am - 10:40am | Plenary #2: Emerging diseases - Monkeypox and Japanese Encephalitis A/Prof Joseph Doyle, NHMRC Career Development Fellow, Monash University and The Alfred Deputy Program Director, Disease Elimination, Burnet Institute A/Prof Janine Trevillyan, Head of Clinical Virology and HIV Services, Deputy Director, Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health | |
10:45am - 11:25am | Morning tea break/ exhibitions Smileyscope Balance Medical Spleen Australia | |
11:30am - 12:10pm | Plenary #3: COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy across all age groups. Where to next? A/Prof Nigel Crawford, Director of SAEFVIC/ MVEC, Murdoch Children's Research Institute | |
12:15pm - 12:55pm | Plenary #4: Adverse events of interest: recognition and management, The SAEFVIC experience Ms Mel Addison and Ms Laura Voss, SAEFVIC Clinical team, Murdoch Children's Research Institute | |
1:00pm - 1:50pm | Standing lunch / exhibitions Smileyscope Balance Medical Spleen Australia | |
1:50pm - 3:20pm | Concurrent breakout sessions | |
1:50pm - 2:30pm | Topic: VicSIS Barwon Health: Vaccination challenges – clients with needle phobias and intellectual disabilities Breakout #1: Glyn Davis theatre Speaker: Ms Loretta Mithen VicSIS Nurse Lead Barwon Health, PHU | Topic: Council experiences on refugee health: providing catch-up vaccines Breakout #2: Malaysia theatre Speaker: Ms Philippa Holland Immunisation Coordinator City of Melbourne |
2:35pm - 3:15pm | Topic: Latest evidence on vaccination for immune compromised patients Breakout #3: Glyn Davis theatre Speaker: A/Prof Benjamin Teh Infectious Diseases Physician Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Topic: Hepatitis B: vaccine schedules, serology and non-responders explained Breakout #4: Malaysia theatre Speaker: Dr Andrew Mahony Infectious Diseases Physician Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, Swan Hill District Health, Austin Health |
3:25pm - 4:00pm | Plenary | |
3:25pm - 3:50pm | Plenary #5: Wellbeing and resilience in healthcare Dr Naomi Brockenshire, Lecturer in Nursing, University of Melbourne | |
3:50pm - 4:00pm | Closing and thankyou Hosts: Rachael McGuire and Francesca Machingaifa | |
4:00pm - 4:15pm | Exhibitions Smileyscope Balance Medical Spleen Australia |
Hosts

Rachael McGuire
BNurs
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.

Francesca Machingaifa
BNurs (Hons), PGDipN (Paediatrics), GradCertClinEd
Education Nurse Coordinator, MVEC
Francesca is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and experienced paediatric Registered Nurse. She has been working with SAEFVIC (MCRI) as a Research Nurse since 2018 and holds the position of a Nurse Immuniser with a local council. Francesca also works in a private paediatric travel clinic and is passionate about immunisation research, education and surveillance.
Presenters

A/Prof Margie Danchin
Consultant Paediatrician, The Royal Children’s Hospital
A/Prof Margie Danchin is a consultant paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) and leader of the Vaccine Uptake Group, at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on vaccine confidence, risk communication and uptake, particularly amongst high-risk groups, in Australia and globally. In Australia, she is the recent chair of the Collaboration on Social Science in Immunisation (COSSI) Group, chair of the Social Science Advisory Board and a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, NCIRS and is an expert advisor to ATAGI. She is Deputy Chair, Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance (ARIA) and works closely with DFAT to provide technical immunisation support for the region.

Ms Selba-Gondoza Luka
Founder and CEO, Afri-Aus Care Inc.
Selba-Gondoza Luka is a Malawian-born Mental Health Clinician and a Culturally Appropriate Counsellor who specialises in specific support that targets African and other Culturally and Linguistically Diverse groups. Inspired by her own experience of domestic abuse, homelessness, and fractured family relationships, Selba-Gondoza founded Afri-Aus Care Inc. In 2015 with a mission to empower those within the African community to overcome the difficulties they face, much like how she had overcome hers. Selba-Gondoza is a multiple award winner, a motivational speaker and has been a Panel Speaker at the National Level. In 2018 she was awarded Victoria’s Multicultural Awards for Excellence; in 2021 she was inducted into the Victorian Women Honour Role; Citizen of the Year 2021 awarded by the City of Greater Dandenong; in 2022 she was Honoured for the Significant Contributions to the Multicultural Communities by Africa Day Australia. More of Selba-Gondoza’s achievements can be found on Media platform Google.

Prof Julie Leask
Adjunct Professor, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health
Julie Leask is a social scientist specialising in immunisation and professor in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. She leads a small team of researchers who focus on what people think, feel and do about immunisation and risk communication. Julie is a member of the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases and visiting professorial fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. She currently holds an NHMRC Investigator Leadership Fellowship. She was chair of the WHO Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination working group 2018-2022 and overall winner of the Australian Financial Review 100 Woman of Influence in 2019.

Dr Jessica Stokes-Parish
Intensive Care Nurse & Educator, Assistant Professor, Medicine, Bond University
Jessica is a practicing intensive care nurse and educator, who holds a PhD in Medicine from the University of Newcastle. In addition to 13+ years of bedside nursing, her areas of work include health professions workforce development, including policy, education and science communication. She loves nursing and all that it has brought her, so she’ll talk about that any chance she can get!

A/Prof Joseph Doyle
NHMRC Career Development Fellow, Monash University and The Alfred; and Deputy Program Director, Disease Elimination, Burnet Institute
A/Prof Doyle is a clinician-researcher and dual-trained infectious diseases and public health physician. He has a particular interest in the epidemiology, management and prevention of blood borne viruses (HIV, hepatitis C and hepatitis B) and public health implementation research. He is currently NHMRC Career Development Fellow and a Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at The Alfred and Monash University. He is clinical lead for Alfred Health Population Health Partnership, and jointly appointed as Deputy Director of Disease Elimination Program at Burnet Institute. He is a board member of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases, and has been appointed by national and state governments to the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia, and Independent Pandemic Management Advisory Committee in Victoria.

A/Prof Janine Trevillyan
Head of Clinical Virology and HIV Services, Deputy Director, Department of Infectious Diseases, Austin Health
A/Prof Janine Trevillyan is the Head of Clinical Virology and HIV Services and Deputy Director, Department of Infectious Diseases at Austin Health, and holds an honorary appointment at the Doherty Institute in the Department of Infectious Diseases. Janine was the lead of the North-eastern COVID Vaccination Hub and is a clinical researcher whose work focuses on understanding and preventing HIV-associated comorbidities and vaccine efficacy and safety. She completed a PhD through Monash University and then went on to a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles, Clinical AIDS Research and Education centre. She’s an active member of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and elected member of its inflammation transformative science group committee.

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.

Ms Laura Voss
Immunisation Research Nurse, SAEFVIC, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Laura is an accredited nurse immuniser with experience in emergency/critical care nursing. She has been working as a nurse immuniser with adults, children and families in community general practice for the past six years and has a specific interest in vaccine preventable illness and vaccine confidence. She has been involved in many quality improvement projects to improve vaccine uptake. Her current position as a research nurse with SAEFVIC (MCRI) incorporates her interests in vaccine confidence and safety.

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, SAEFVIC/ 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 an Associate 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; became Chair in 2021.

Ms Philippa Holland
Immunisation Coordinator, City of Melbourne
Ms Philippa Holland is the Immunisation Coordinator for the City of Melbourne Council. Philippa has a keen interest in catch-up immunisation’s for migrant children and exploring the barriers of the current system. Through partnership with the MCRI we were awarded a grant from the GSK Immunisation Award’s 2020: to co-design the “Migration Immunisation Access (MIA) Project: determining the extent and impact of migrant children’s vaccination ‘catch-up’ schedules”. Part findings of this project have been successfully published. She is also a tutor at the Australian College of Nursing where she helps mentor nurses and pharmacists to become authorised nurse immunisers across all states across Australia.

Ms Loretta Mithen
VicSIS Nurse Lead, Barwon Health PHU
Ms Loretta Mithen is a Nurse Immuniser with an extensive critical care background. Loretta is the Nurse Lead for the Victorian Specialist Immunisation Support (VicSIS) team at Barwon Health, PHU. Loretta joined VicSIS at its inception. A unique opportunity was presented within the role to collaborate with the Anaesthetic team to successfully address concerns for clients with needle phobias and those with intellectual disabilities. A multileveled approach, underpinned by respect and commitment, has created a successful vaccination process for this often marginalised cohort.

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.

Dr Andrew Mahony
Infectious Diseases Physician, Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, Swan Hill District Health, Austin Health
Dr Andrew Mahony is Infectious Diseases Physician at Bendigo Health, Echuca Regional Health, Swan Hill District Health and (when time permits) Austin Health. He is also the medical lead for the Loddon-Mallee Public Health Unit. Andrew has specific interests in HIV medicine, viral hepatitis, vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, and antimicrobial stewardship. His main new interest is his black German Shepherd 18-month-old puppy Ollie, whose immunisations are very much up to date.

Dr Naomi Brockenshire
Lecturer in Nursing, University of Melbourne
Dr Naomi Brockenshire is a Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Melbourne teaching in the Master of Advanced Nursing Practice, Master of Nursing Science, and Specialist Mental Health Nursing programs. Naomi also holds an Honorary appointment with the Nursing Research Department at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. Naomi completed her PhD in 2019, an ethnographic exploration of the Clown Doctors at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She is currently working on several research projects including graduate and nurse wellbeing; a service evaluation of the Nursing and Midwifery Health Program; the benefits and burdens of clinical placement for nursing students; and the work of clown doctors within a tertiary paediatric hospital.
Exhibitors

Smileyscope transforms medical procedure experiences through evidence-based virtual reality. Our first VR experience helps patients keep calm and still during needle procedures, transforming fear into fun for patients, and making procedures faster and safer for clinicians.

Balance Medical has been delivering innovative medical devices and pharmaceuticals in Australia and New Zealand for the past 9 years. Aligning with our focus to merge health & innovation keeps us at the forefront, with products such as Exocool and other new and exciting technologies that improve patient experiences and outcomes.

Spleen Australia is a public health initiative funded by the Departments of Health in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland. This clinical service aims to reduce serious bacterial infections (sepsis) in people without a functioning spleen. Over 13,000 people are registered. They have been referred to us via their specialists, GP or self-register. Registration and an abundance of information can be found on our website www.spleen.org.au. The service has demonstrated that it reduces sepsis in this patient group and is cost effective.
CVU mini - Tuesday 30th August 2022 (virtual event)
COVID-19: infection and vaccines in children aged 6 months and over
Thank you for attending MVEC’s Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) mini webinar on Tuesday 30th August. The CVU mini provided an update on:
- COVID-19 infection in children over 6 months: The Melbourne experience
- COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for Australian children over 6 months
- The safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines in children
The event was held for 1.5 hours, including an opportunity for questions in the live Q&A forum.
The recording will be available for viewing soon.
Following the event or upon completion of viewing the recording, please login to your profile on our Education Portal to complete a short evaluation survey, and to download a copy of your attendance certificate for professional development requirements.
Tuesday 30th August 2022 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEST) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.05pm | Welcome to country Introduction | Rachael McGuire (host) Education Nurse Coordinator, MVEC Julia Smith (host) Immunisation Fellow, The Royal Children's Hospital |
7.05pm - 7.25pm | COVID-19 infection in children over 6 months: The Melbourne experience | Dr Daryl Cheng Medical Lead, MVEC |
7.25pm – 7.45pm | COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for Australian children over 6 months | A/Prof Nigel Crawford Director, SAEFVIC/ MVEC |
7.45pm – 8.05pm | The safety profile of COVID-19 vaccines in children 6 months - 5 year old | Prof Jim Buttery Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, Murdoch Children's Research Institute |
8.05pm - 8.25pm | Q&A Panel | A/Prof Nigel Crawford / Prof Jim Buttery / Dr Daryl Cheng |
8.25pm - 8.30pm | Closing | Rachael McGuire / Julia Smith |
Presenters

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 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.
Immunisation Skills Workshop - Friday 25th November 2022
This full day interactive, face-to-face Immunisation Skills Workshop is our newest immunisation education opportunity designed to upskill providers on the principles and processes of managing:
- effective vaccine communication
- error prevention and management
- anaphylaxis and acute stress responses.
In this workshop attendees will hear from immunisation experts and have the opportunity to put their learnings into practice through participation in simulated scenarios.
Date: Friday 25th November 2022
Time: 8:30am – 4:30pm AEST
Venue: HELP Precinct Level 1, The Royal Children’s Hospital, 50 Flemington Road, Parkville
Course fee: AUD $290.00 per person
Please note: This event will be fully catered. Attendees can claim up to 12 nursing CPD hours and up to 24 points of CPD for pharmacist immunisers (including preparation and reading time).
This workshop has now reached capacity. To join the waitlist should a place become available, please email [email protected].
Friday 25th November 2022 - Program | |||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Session | ||
8:00am - 8:30am | Registration | ||
8:30am - 8:40am | Welcome to Country Workshop welcome | ||
8:40am - 9:15am | Presentation: Adverse events following immunisation and how to manage them | ||
9:15am - 10:00am | Presentation: Vaccine communication - Vaccine hesitant families/patients - Addressing misinformation - How to approach consent discussions with conflicting opinions among parents | ||
10:00am - 10:30am | Morning tea | ||
10:30am - 11:15am | Presentation: Common vaccine errors and how to manage them - What is an error - Common errors - How errors can be avoided, open disclosure discussions, reporting errors | ||
11:15am - 12:00pm | Presentation: Vasovagal episode vs anaphylaxis | ||
12:00pm - 12:45pm | Lunch | ||
12:45pm - 4:00pm | Putting learnings into practice - Vaccine errors simulation - Anaphylaxis vs acute stress response simulation - Vaccine communication simulation | ||
4:00pm | Evaluation survey and close |
MVEC is proud to be affiliated with the following partners as part of the Immunisation Skills Workshop


Venue hire proudly supported by the University of Melbourne

CVU mini - Thursday 28th April 2022 (virtual event)
Winter preparedness: COVID-19 and influenza
Thank you for joining our first CVU mini virtual event for the year on Winter preparedness: COVID-19 and influenza. This CVU mini has covered the following updates:
- COVID-19 vaccines: keeping up-to-date
- Winter COVID-19 booster dose and flu administration for the elderly
- Influenza: a post COVID-19 landscape
Following the event, please login to your profile on our Education Portal to complete a short evaluation survey, and to download a copy of your attendance certificate for professional development requirements.
Event details:
Date: Thursday 28th April 2022
Time: 7pm – 8:30pm (AEST)
Thursday 28th April 2022 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.20pm | Welcome to country COVID-19 vaccines: keeping up-to-date | A/Prof Nigel Crawford (host) Director, MVEC/ SAEFVIC Victoria, Australia |
7.20pm – 7.40pm | Winter COVID-19 dose and flu administration for the elderly | A/Prof Michael Murray President, National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) Victoria, Australia |
7.40pm - 8.00pm | Influenza: a post COVID-19 landscape | A/Prof Sheena Sullivan Senior Epidemiologist, Peter Doherty Institute Victoria, Australia |
8.00pm - 8.30pm | Q & A Closing | Dr Angela Berkhout Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist, Infection Management and Prevention, The Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane Clinical Research Fellow, MCRI Immunisation Fellow, MVEC, MCRI Queensland/ Victoria, Australia |
Presenters

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.

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.
Login to the Education Portal to complete a short survey and download a copy of your attendance certificate.
Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) - November 2021
Our 2021 CVU has concluded.
The program allowed participants to choose from keynote sessions delivered on the virtual main stage in addition to themed seminars and interactive workshops hosted by industry experts, addressing the most important and current issues in immunisation.
If you missed the event you can still access the recordings of our sessions. Click on the link below to purchase access and login/sign up via our Education Portal.
Thursday 18th November 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Session | |
Opening plenary | ||
9.30am - 9.45am | Welcome to country Conference welcome Speaker: A/Prof Nigel Crawford, Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC) | |
9:45am - 10:30am | Plenary #1: Experiences in public health leadership Speaker: Adj A/Prof Marion Kainer, Head, Infectious Diseases, Western Health in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | |
10:30am - 11:15am | Plenary #2: COVID and Kids Speaker: Prof Fiona Russell | |
11.15am - 11.45am Morning tea break | ||
Concurrent sessions - Elective Seminars 11.45am - 12.30am | ||
Elective Seminar #1 Immunocompromised in Special Risk Groups Speaker: Dr Jeremy Carr | Elective Seminar #2 Vaccine safety Speaker: Prof Jim Buttery | |
12.30pm - 1.30pm Lunch | ||
Concurrent sessions - Workshops 1.30pm - 2.15pm | ||
Workshop #1 Allergy Speaker: Sara Barnes | Workshop #2 COVID-19 Vaccine AEFI: TTS / VIPIT Update Speaker: Prof Huyen Tran / Dr Linny Phuong | Workshop #3 Vaccine confidence Speaker: Dr Jess Kaufmann + Alina |
2.30pm - 3.15pm | ||
Workshop #4 Allergy Speaker: Sara Barnes | Workshop #5 De-escalation in the immunisation setting (tips on managing difficult patient/caller) Speaker: Sarah Pitts / Karen Bellamy | Workshop #6 Needle phobia and management strategies Speaker: Lynne Addlem |
Presenters

Dr Daryl Cheng
Medical Lead, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC), MCRI
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 Nigel Crawford
Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) and Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination in the Community (SAEFVIC), MCRI
Chair, ATAGI, Immunisation
Senior Medical Advisor, Victorian Department of Health, COVID-19 Vaccine Program
A/ Prof Crawford is a vaccinologist with a special interest in vaccine safety. His research includes COVID-19 in families and children, vaccine safety and surveillance, special risk group’s immunisation, vaccine preventable diseases epidemiology, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children and immunisation policy development.

Adj A/Prof Marion Kainer
Head of Infectious Diseases, Western Health
Marion Kainer is Adj A/Prof at Health Policy at Vanderbilt University. She obtained her medical degree at the University of Melbourne and Master of Public Health at Monash University. She is an adult infectious diseases physician and healthcare epidemiologist. She was an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion/ Hospital Infections Program. A/Prof Kainer joined the Tennessee Department of Health in 2003 where she was the director of the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Program. She was the chair of the Healthcare Associated Infections [HAI] subcommittee of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists [CSTE]. A/Prof Kainer served as the CSTE liaison to CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee [HICPAC], CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network [NHSN] change control board and the Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America [SHEA]. A/Prof Kainer led the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak investigation at the Tennessee Department of Health and was named Tennessean of the Year. She was honored by the Obama White House as a Champion of Change for Prevention and Public Health in 2013. She was a member of the antimicrobial resistance surveillance taskforce and co-chaired the Council for Outbreak Response: Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens [CORHA]. She was a member of the antibiotic resistance work group for the President Obama’s Council of Advisors in Science and Technology [PCAST]. She took a lead role in the implementation of the Southeast Regional Laboratory that is part of the Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network. She was awarded the CSTE Pump Handle award in 2019 for outstanding achievement in the field of applied epidemiology. In October 2019 A/Prof Kainer returned to Melbourne, Australia as the Head of Infectious Diseases at Western Health. She chairs the Western Health infection control committee and the antimicrobial stewardship workgroup. Since January 2020 she has also taken a leadership role in the preparation for and response to COVID-19, including providing advice to executive leadership. A/Prof Kainer provides oversight as the medical lead for both COVID response and COVID Vaccination at Western Health’s Sunshine hub and associated sub-hubs. She serves as a clinician for the Victorian Specialist Immunization Service, based at Sunshine. A/Prof Kainer also serves as a member of the Victorian COVID-19 Healthcare Worker Infection and Wellbeing Taskforce, and the Infectious Disease Expert Working Group-COVID-19, Safer Care Victoria.

Prof Fiona Russell
Group Leader/Senior Principal Research Fellow, Infection and Immunity, MCRI
Professor Fiona Russell is a paediatrician, epidemiologist and translation researcher. She is Director of the Child and Adolescent Health PhD Program, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne, and is a member of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Child and Neonatal Health Research and Training; and Group Leader for Asia-Pacific Health research, MCRI. Her research provides evidence for policy decisions regarding immunisation and child health in low- and middle-income countries.

Dr Jeremy Carr
Infectious Diseases Physician, Monash Health
Jeremy Carr is a Paediatric Infectious Disease Physician at Monash Children’s where he leads the paediatric immunisation and VicSIS clinics. Jeremy joined the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford in 2018 as a Research Fellow where he is completing his PhD on a cluster RCT of meningococcal vaccines focussing on herd immunity and microbial genomics.

Prof Jim Buttery
Head, Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, SAEFVIC, MCRI
Chief Clinical Research Information Officer and Infectious Diseases Consultant, The Royal Children’s Hospital
Prof Buttery is a paediatric infectious diseases physician and vaccinologist. 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 Sara Barnes
Associate Professor (adjunct) and Clinical Lead Allergy, Monash Health
A/Prof Sara Barnes is a clinical allergist/immunologist who leads and continues to develop the Allergy service at Monash Health. This has seen the development of a venom service including Jack Jumper Ants as well as a focus on adult vaccine allergies.

Prof Huyen Tran
Professor Huyen Tran, Head, Haemostasis Thrombosis Unit, The Alfred
Prof Tran is a clinical research haematologist who has a strong national and international reputation in the field of thrombosis and haemostasis. He has a strong interest in standardising best practice and has led several important published guidelines in Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific regions. He is extremely active in the Thrombosis & Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ), where he is the current Chair and Chair of the Clinical Trials Group and co-formed the THANZ Vaccine-Induced Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia Advisory group soon after Australia started the COVID-19 vaccination program. He serves as the haematological expert on Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation; World Health Organisation, TTS Advisory group (2021); steering committee member of the anticoagulant domain, AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial. Prof Tran’s focus is on clinical research in haematology with particular interests in thrombotic, and bleeding disorders.

Dr Linny Phuong
Immunisation Consultant
Dr Phuong is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician. Linny currently works across many different roles including Immunisation Consultant at SAEFVIC, Senior Medical Lead at the North Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU) and as a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Physician at Austin Health and Cabrini. She is an active researcher with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and University of Melbourne- Department of Paediatrics, in areas including Streptococcus pneumoniae, Group A Streptococcus infections and Kawasaki disease.

Dr Jessica Kaufman
Research fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, MCRI
Dr Jessica Kaufman is research fellow in the Vaccine Uptake Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Her current research focuses on interventions and policies to increase acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines and improve routine vaccine uptake in the general public, healthcare workers, pregnant women, children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and people of refugee background.
Sarah Pitts
Immunisation Nurse, Monash Health
Sarah is an accredited Nurse Immuniser of 19 years and experienced paediatric Registered Nurse. She has been working with Monash Health as a specialist Immunisation Nurse for the last 10 years and holds the position of a Nurse Immuniser with 2 local councils and FITS private travel clinic at Cabrini Health. Sarah also trains pharmacy immunisers for the Pharmacy Guild of Victoria and is passionate about equitable vaccine access and excellent immunisation practice.

Paediatric Infectious Diseases Consultant, The Royal Children’s Hospital
Research Officer, Infection and Immunity, MCRI
Dr Josh Osowicki is a clinician-scientist who completed his PhD in the MCRI Tropical Diseases research group where he was supervised by Prof Andrew Steer to establish a human challenge model of Strep A (Streptococcus pyogenes, group A Streptococcus) pharyngitis to accelerate vaccine development against this high priority pathogen.

Karen Bellamy
Immunisation Nurse Practitioner, Monash Health
Karen is an Immunisation Nurse Practitioner specialising in vaccine preventable diseases – paediatric, adult and antenatal at Monash Health. She is also a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisations as well as, the Victorian Expert Advisory Group working on the COVID-19 vaccine program. Karen was recently appointed as a specialist advisor with the Vaccine Safety Investigation Group (VSIG) investigating and managing AEFI safety signals in COVID-19 vaccines. In her spare time, Karen works at a local government as a Nurse Immuniser. Prior to her working in the immunisation space, she held the role of Midwife and Maternal Child Health Nurse.

Lynne Addlem
Immunisation Nurse Practitioner Candidate, The Royal Children’s Hospital
Lynne Addlem has worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne for over 15 years in various nursing roles including many years in the RCH Emergency department. She moved to Immunisation in 2017 and is working toward endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner in this field. Lynne also works in private travel medicine in a community clinic. She has particular interests in vaccine hesitancy, vaccination for those at risk and sedation of the needle phobic patient.

Dr Angie Berkhout
Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist, Microbiology Department, The Royal Children’s Hospital
Clinical Research Fellow and MVEC Immunisation Fellow, MCRI
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.
Friday 19th November 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Session | |
Opening plenary | ||
9.30am - 9.45am | Conference welcome Speaker: A/Prof Nigel Crawford, Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC) | |
9:45am - 10:30am | Plenary #3: Light for Riley: A Community Perspective on Immunisation Speaker: Catherine Hughes, Immuniser Champion, Founder of Light for Riley – Immunisation Foundation of Australia | |
10.30am - 11.00am Morning tea break | ||
Concurrent sessions - Workshops 11.00am - 11.45am | ||
Workshop #7 Vaccinating the 'difficult to reach' Speaker: Dr Nadia Chaves, Infectious Diseases Specialist, cohealth | Workshop #8 De-escalation in the immunisation setting Speaker: Karen Bellamy / Sarah Pitts | Workshop #9 Vaccine errors Speaker: Georgina Lewis |
Feature seminar 12pm - 12.45pm | ||
Elective seminar #3 Myocarditis and pericarditis associated with mRNA vaccination Speaker: Dr Daryl Cheng | ||
12.45pm - 1.45pm Lunch | ||
Closing plenary | ||
1.45pm - 2.30pm | Panel session: Mandatory vaccination and no fault compensation Panellists: Prof Julie Leask, Dr Preeya Alexander and A/Prof Nigel Crawford |
Presenters

Catherine Hughes
Immuniser Champion, Founder of Light for Riley – Immunisation Foundation of Australia
Catherine Hughes became an ardent campaigner for vaccination after her one month old child Riley died from whooping cough. She has focused her energy into raising awareness and funds for whooping cough research. Her efforts have raised over $70,000 and donated more than 45,000 vaccines to UNICEF.

Dr Nadia Chaves
Infectious Diseases Specialist, cohealth
Dr Nadia Chaves specialises in working with communities who are traditionally under served by mainstream services. These communities have also been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. She will share stories and strategies from the C-19 Network around community engagement and empowerment and improving COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Melbourne’s diverse communities.

Georgina Lewis
Clinical Manager, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), MCRI
Georgina is the Clinical Manager of SAEFVIC (MCRI). She is an accredited Nurse Immuniser and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Nursing, Paediatrics. Georgina also works as a casual Nurse Immuniser with a local council. Her special interests include vaccine safety, surveillance, education and immunisation research

A/Prof Nigel Crawford
Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) and Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination in the Community (SAEFVIC), MCRI
Chair, ATAGI, Immunisation
Senior Medical Advisor, Victorian Department of Health, COVID-19 Vaccine Program
A/ Prof Crawford is a vaccinologist with a special interest in vaccine safety. His research includes COVID-19 in families and children, vaccine safety and surveillance, special risk group’s immunisation, vaccine preventable diseases epidemiology, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in children and immunisation policy development.

Prof Julie Leask
Professor Julie Leask, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health
Professor Julie Leask is a social scientist specialising in immunisation at the University of Sydney’s Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery. She has a Master of Public Health and nursing and midwifery qualifications. She is visiting fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and member of the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases. Julie currently chairs the WHO Behavioural and Social Drivers of Vaccination working group. In 2019, she won the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence award.

Dr Preeya Alexander
General Practitioner
Dr Preeya Alexander or more commonly known as the ‘Wholesome Doctor’ has been changing our perspectives on science-based medicine, one Instagram post at a time. She is a GP and medical educator working in Melbourne. With a lack of practical based medical knowledge available to the new world of social media, Dr Alexander made it her mission to promote a complete, wholesome, and science-based approach to educate her now avid followers. Throughout the pandemic Preeya has focussed heavily on busting commonly circulated myths and delivering easy to digest information on hot topics including vaccination against COVID19.
CVU mini - Monday 30th August 2021 (virtual event)
Matters of the heart: Myocarditis and pericarditis associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccination
Understanding important vaccine safety signals in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines
This CVU mini virtual event Matters of the heart: Myocarditis and pericarditis associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccination took an in-depth look at an important vaccine safety signal associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna). Our speakers looked at the Australian approach to myocarditis and pericarditis following COVID-19 vaccination, explaining symptoms to watch for, guidance around management and clinical outcomes and follow-up.
There was a live Q&A forum with experts from the medical, consumer (Heart Foundation) and vaccine safety domains.
Event details:
Date: Monday 30th August 2021
Time: 7pm – 8:30pm (AEST)
Monday 30th August 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.10pm | Welcome & update | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Lead, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
7.10pm – 7.30pm | Pericarditis/myocarditis associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccination | A/Prof Nicholas Cox Clinical Associate Professor, University of Melbourne, Director Cardiology at Western Health, Victoria, Australia |
7.30pm - 7.50pm | Paediatric update on pericarditis/myocarditis associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccination | Dr Bo Remenyi Paediatric Cardiologist, Royal Darwin Hospital, NT, Australia |
7.50pm - 8.05pm | Myocarditis and Pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination: A Victorian perspective | Dr Daryl Cheng Medical Lead, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
8.05pm - 8.30pm | Q&A Panel - addressing consumer focus Closing | Dr Amanda Buttery Manager, Clinical Evidence, Heart Foundation 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) |
Presenters

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 1st 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.
CVU mini - Monday 26th April 2021 (virtual event)
COVID-19 vaccine: reporting and management in Victoria
Immunisation providers including GP practices, vaccine hubs, pharmacies and other clinics have and will continue to play an important role in delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to their local communities. As the rollout continues, vaccine safety and adverse event reporting have been coming to the fore for both providers and consumers – and will be key to ensuring ongoing community confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Our next CVU mini virtual event COVID-19 vaccine: reporting and management in Victoria will provide an interactive update on the latest vaccine safety questions around COVID-19 vaccines, as well as a discussion of key guidelines for referring patients for evaluation prior to vaccination (VicSIS) and reporting safety events related to COVID-19 vaccines. There will also be an opportunity for your questions in our live Q&A forum.
We are excited to welcome our expert VicSIS/SAEFVIC panel including Ms Mel Addison, Ms Adele Harris, Dr Sally Gordon, Prof Jim Buttery and A/Prof Nigel Crawford for this event.
Event details:
Date: Monday 26th April 2021
Time: 7pm – 8:30pm AEDT
Monday 26th April 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.15pm | Welcome & update | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Lead, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
7.15pm – 7.45pm | Vaccine Safety Reporting 101 I have an adverse event following immunisation. What do I do and how do I report it? | Ms Mel Addison / Ms Adele Harris Immunisation Nurses, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia |
7.45pm - 8.15pm | VicSIS - What’s their role and when should you refer a patient? | Dr Sally Gordon Victorian Specialist Immunisation Services (VicSIS) Manager, COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Department of Health Victoria, Australia |
8.15pm - 8.30pm | Q&A Panel - vaccine safety questions Closing | Prof Jim Buttery Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, SAEFVIC (MCRI) A/Prof Nigel Crawford Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia |
Presenters

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.
Special event - Tuesday 20th April 2021 (virtual event)
Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) & COVID-19 AstraZeneca
In light of the change in recommendation regarding the administration of COVID-19 AstraZeneca in those under 50 years, we are excited to be hosting a special clinical feature event on Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) & COVID-19 AstraZeneca. Our panel will be giving background on what this new syndrome is and explore its association with the vaccine. We will also discuss the importance of a risk-versus-benefit assessment and how this new recommendation will impact confidence in the vaccine rollout.
Event details:
Date: Tuesday 20th April 2021
Time: 7pm – 8:30pm AEDT
Tuesday 20th April 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.10pm | Welcome | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Lead, MVEC |
7.10pm – 7.30pm | Thromboembolic diseases post COVID-19 vaccines | Prof Jim Buttery Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, SAEFVIC (Murdoch Children's Research Institute) |
7.30pm - 7.50pm | Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS): understanding the mechanism | Prof Paul Monagle Professor of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne |
7.50pm - 8.10pm | TTS and COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine: impact on Australian rollout | A/Prof Nigel Crawford Director, SAEFVIC/ MVEC (Murdoch Children's Research Institute) |
8.10pm - 8.30pm | Q & A Closing |
Presenters

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.

Associate Professor Nigel Crawford
Director, SAEFVIC (Murdoch Children’s Research Institute)
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.