Annual Clinical Vaccinology Update (CVU) – Monday 30 October 2023

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

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

Ms Rachael McGuire
Education Nurse Coordinator, MVEC

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

Dr Sally Gordon
Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ms Sarah Pitts
Immunisation Nurse, Monash Health

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

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

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

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

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

Dr Georgina Hall
Clinical Ethicist, Royal Children’s Hospital 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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