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.
CVU mini - Monday 12th April 2021 (virtual event)
Hot topics in vaccine science
Our Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) mini’s are a series of webinar sessions for health care professionals. Each CVU mini will provide information on the latest in vaccine news and clinical updates from a range of presenters.
Update: At our upcoming CVU mini there will also be an opportunity to hear the latest update on vaccine safety concerns around clotting syndromes associated with the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.
Event details:
Date: Monday 12th April, 2021
Time: 7pm – 8:30pm AEDT
This is a FREE event and will be held via Zoom.
Mon 12th April 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.10pm | Welcome | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Advisor, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
7.10pm – 7.30pm | Influenza vaccines for 2021 | Prof Ian Barr Deputy Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on InfluenzaVictoria, Australia |
7.30pm - 7.50pm | COVID-19 vaccine: vaccine allergy and rollout | Prof Michael Gold Paediatric Allergist and Immunologist, Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics, University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia |
7.50pm - 8.10pm | Overview / update of the Novavax NVX-CoV2373 Vaccine Candidate | Prof Paul Heath Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases and Director of the Vaccine Institute St George's University of London, London, United Kingdom. CI of UK Novavax Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial |
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 Ian Barr
Deputy Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Melbourne, Australia
Professor Ian Barr is Deputy Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza. Ian has had over 35 years’ experience in biological research and development in academic institutions and at CSL Limited on various topics such as vaccine development, mucosal immunology, adjuvants, cancer therapeutics, immune system development and diagnostics. Ian joined the Centre in 2000 and has served as Deputy Director since 2005. He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Federation University and holds an honorary position at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Michael Gold
Professor, Adelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Adelaide, Australia
Professor Michael Gold is a paediatric allergy and immunology specialist and senior lecturer in paediatrics at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. His research and clinical interests focus on the areas of childhood food allergy and vaccine safety. In 2010, he was the first Australian appointed to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Advisory Committee for Vaccine Safety. He has been an expert vaccine advisor to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) since 2006. He is a member of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology (ASCIA) and the medical board of Allergy Anaphylaxis Australia
Professor Paul Heath
Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, St George’s University of London & St George’s University Hospitals NHS Trust, London
Paul Heath is a Professor and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s, University of London, where he co-leads the Paediatric Infectious Diseases Research Group and is the Director of the Vaccine Institute. His training in paediatrics and infectious diseases was at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia, the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and St George’s Hospital, London. His particular research interests are in the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases, in clinical vaccine trials, particularly in at-risk groups and in perinatal infections, and he has over 300 publications in these areas. He coordinates a European neonatal infection surveillance network (neonIN: https://www.neonin.org.uk) and the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group (UKPVG), and other recent work includes national surveillance on neonatal meningitis, neonatal GBS and Listeria infections, maternal immunisation trials, studies of different vaccine schedules in preterm infants and COVID-19 vaccine trials (Phase I-III). He sits on national UK committees concerned with meningitis, Group B streptococcus prevention, immunisation policies in children and COVID-19 vaccine trial delivery. He is Chair of the Research Committee of the European Society of Paediatric Infectious Diseases, Section Editor of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal (maternal & neonatal), Clinical Lead for Children’s research for South London and a member of the WHO GBS Surveillance Technical Working Group.
CVU mini - Tuesday 9th March, 2021 (virtual event)
Tue 9th March 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.10pm | Welcome | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Advisor, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
7.10pm – 7.30pm | COVID-19 vaccine stakeholder engagement and participation | Prof Benjamin Cowie Medical epidemiologist, Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance, Department of Health, Victoria, Australia |
7.30pm - 7.50pm | COVID-19 vaccine communication and hesitancy (recording) | A/Prof Melissa Stockwell Chief of Division of Child and Adolescent Health, Director of Center for Children’s Digital Health Research, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health, Co-Chair of Columbia University Irving Medical Center COVID-19 Vaccine Committee and co-PI of Columbia’s US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) site, New York, USA |
7.50pm - 8.10pm | Overview / update of the Novavax NVX-CoV2373 Vaccine Candidate | A/Prof Nigel Crawford Director, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC), Victoria, Australia |
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 Benjamin Cowie
Medical epidemiologist, Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance, DHHS Victoria
Prof Benjamin Cowie is an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist, holding appointments with the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. He is a medical epidemiologist with Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and is an Honorary Principal Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. He serves on a range of communicable disease, clinical and public health committees at state, national and international levels.
A/Prof Melissa Stockwell
Chief of Division of Child and Adolescent Health, Director of Center for Children’s Digital Health Research, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Family Health, New York, USA
A/Prof Stockwell is Chief of the Divisions of Child and Adolescent Health and an Associate professor of Pediatrics (Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) and Population and Family Health (Mailman School of Public Health). She is the Medical Director of the New York Presbyterian Hospital Immunization Registry, Co-Director of the Columbia University Primary Care Clinician Research Fellowship in Community Health, Co-Chair of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center COVID-19 Vaccine Committee and co-PI of Columbia’s US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment (CISA) site, and a New York based paediatrician. She serves on the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Immunization Improvement Team. Her research focuses on translational interventions to improve vaccinations with an emphasis on healthy technology and health literacy in order to promote vaccination and surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases and adverse events.
Associate Professor Nigel Crawford
Director of Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre
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.
Register for your free ticket now via the link below!
CVU mini - Monday 8th February, 2021 (virtual event)
Mon 8th February 2021 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
7.00pm - 7.05pm | Welcome | Dr Daryl Cheng (host) Medical Advisor, MVEC Victoria, Australia |
7.05pm – 7.20pm | COVID-19 vaccine platforms | Prof Katie Flanagan Head of Infectious Diseases, Launceston General Hospital |
7.20pm - 7.35pm | COVID-19 vaccine safety | Prof Jim Buttery Head of Health Informatics, Epidemiology and Signal Detection, SAEFVIC (MCRI) |
7.35pm - 7.50pm | COVID-19 vaccine rollout - Victoria | Dr Annaliese Van Diemen Deputy Chief Health Officer, Communicable Disease, DHHS Victoria |
7.50pm - 8.05pm | COVID-19 vaccine stakeholder engagement and participation | Prof Benjamin Cowie Medical epidemiologist, Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance, Department of Health, Victoria, Australia |
8.05pm - 8.25pm | 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 Katie Flanagan
Head of Infectious Diseases, Launceston General Hospital
Prof Katie is Head of Infectious Diseases at Launceston General Hospital and is affiliated with the University of Tasmania, Monash University and RMIT where she is involved in a broad range of research projects, with her main interests being in vaccinology and infectious diseases immunology. She has led a number of vaccine immunology trials and serves as a member of ATAGI.
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.
Dr Annaliese van Diemen
Deputy Chief Health Officer, Communicable Diseases, DHHS Victoria
Dr van Diemen has experience across both public health and clinical medicine, and holds post graduate qualifications in public health and paediatrics. She has worked in hospital, public health and primary care settings in both Victoria and Western Australia. Her key interests are in antimicrobial resistance, health systems and vaccine preventable diseases. She is a fellow of the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Professor Benjamin Cowie
Medical epidemiologist, Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance, DHHS Victoria
Prof Benjamin Cowie is an infectious diseases physician and epidemiologist, holding appointments with the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. He is a medical epidemiologist with Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Surveillance at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and is an Honorary Principal Fellow in the Department of Medicine at the University of Melbourne. He serves on a range of communicable disease, clinical and public health committees at state, national and international levels.
Register for your free ticket now via the link below!
Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) – December 2020
Thank you to everyone who attended our recent CVU.
If you were unable to attend on the day and are still interested in viewing the presentations, you can purchase access to the recordings via the link below. You will then need to sign in to our Education Portal and enter the password when prompted to view the CVU.
If you did attend and would like to view the presentations again, sign in to the Education Portal and enter the password that has been emailed to you when prompted.
For any queries please contact us via [email protected].
To stay informed of future MVEC events, please subscribe to our newsletter and social media channels.
Virtual CVU: Mon 7th December 2020 - Program | ||
Time (Melbourne local time, AEDT) | Topic | Presenter |
9:00am - 9:05am | Welcome | A/Prof Nigel Crawford Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre |
9:05am - 09:35pm | COVID-19 vaccine safety after licensure – COVID-19 adverse events of special interest and adverse events following immunisation | A/Prof Helen Petousis-Harris Director, Vaccine Datalink and Research Group (Auckland, New Zealand) |
9:35am - 10:05am | COVID-19 vaccine safety communication | Prof Daniel Salmon Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Baltimore, USA) |
10:05am - 10:35am | COVID-19 vaccines update | A/Prof Chris Blyth Co-Chair, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Perth) |
10:35am - 10:50am | Q & A | |
10:50am - 11:25am | Break | |
11:30am - 12:00pm | Vaccine communication and confidence – a consumer focus | Ms Rachel Callander Speaker, Author, Trainer, Artist, Photographer (Perth, WA) |
12:00pm - 12:30pm | The vulnerable young people catch-up vaccination project | Ms Belinda Tominc Clinical Nurse Consultant, The Royal Children's Hospital |
12:30pm - 12:55pm | Lunch break | |
1:00pm - 1:30pm | Influenza and influenza vaccine update | Prof Kanta Subbarao Director, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza |
1:30pm - 2:00pm | Pharmacists and immunisation | Ms Annie Cobbledick Immunisation Pharmacist, The Royal Children's Hospital |
2:00pm - 2:30pm | Measles update and experience from recent outbreaks | Dr Meru Sheel Infectious Diseases Epidemiologist and Westpac Research Fellow, Australian National University (Canberra, ACT) |
2:30pm - 2:45pm | Zoster vaccine update and errors | Ms Georgina Lewis / Ms Adele Harris Research Nurses, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community |
2:45pm - 3:00pm | Q & A Closing |
Presenters
Associate Professor Nigel Crawford
Director, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre
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.
Associate Professor Helen Petousis-Harris (Auckland, New Zealand)
Director, Vaccine Datalink and Research Group
Dr Petousis-Harris is a vaccinologist, Associate Professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, and the Director of the Vaccine Datalink and Research Group. She is the chair of the World Health Organization Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) and an elected member of the International Brighton Collaboration Science Board.
Professor Daniel Salmon (Baltimore, USA)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Dr Salmon is a Professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is the Director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety. His research focuses have been on understanding vaccine acceptance and hesitancy, developing systems and science in vaccine safety, and effective vaccine risk communication.
Associate Professor Chris Blyth (Perth, WA)
co-Chair, Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation
A/Prof Blyth is a clinician scientist with the Division of Paediatrics in the University of Western Australia Medical School, a Research Fellow at Telethon Kids Institute and Head of Infectious Diseases at Perth Children’s Hospital. He is co-Chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation which provides advice to the Australian Government on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
Ms Belinda Tominc
Clinical Nurse Consultant, The Royal Children’s Hospital
Belinda Tominc is a Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Young People’s Health Service. She is an experienced community health nurse with a particular interest in improving health access for vulnerable groups.
Rachel Callander (Perth, WA)
Speaker, author, trainer, artist, photographer
Rachel Callander is an award-winning speaker, author, trainer, artist and photographer. She helps healthcare professionals, patients and parents work together to develop an effective communication style that gets the best out of patients, parents and healthcare professionals.
Professor Heidi Larson
Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project (London, UK)
Heidi is an anthropologist and Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project and Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The Vaccine Confidence Project is a WHO centre of excellence on addressing vaccine hesitancy. Heidi is the previous head of Global Immunisation Communication at UNICEF, chaired GAVI’s advocacy taskforce and served on the WHO SAGE working group on vaccine hesitancy.
Professor Kanta Subbarao
Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
Professor Subbarao has been the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne at The Doherty Institute since 2016. She is a virologist and physician who specialises in paediatric infectious diseases.
Annie Cobbledick
Immunisation Pharmacist, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne
Annie has been working at The Royal Children’s Hospital for three years, and began her role as the Immunisation Pharmacist in April 2018. Annie has a particular interest in immunisation access and equity, as well as embracing a multi-disciplinary approach to immunisation.
Dr Meru Sheel (Canberra, ACT)
Infectious diseases epidemiologist and Westpac Research Fellow, Australian National University
Dr Sheel is a global health researcher and an infectious diseases epidemiologist with interest in health emergencies, emerging infectious and vaccine-preventable diseases. Dr Sheel has worked in several dynamic and challenging environments in Australia and in the Asia-Pacific region including India, Cambodia, Samoa and American Samoa. In 2020, Dr Sheel was part of the response to the 2019 Pacific measles outbreak in Tonga and COVID-19 response in Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
Ms Georgina Lewis and Ms Adele Harris
Research Nurses, Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC)
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.
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.