RSV Expert Meeting

Speaker: Prof Paul Griffin

Paul is an accomplished clinical trial investigator, having fulfilled the role of Principal Investigator in over 150 clinical trials, particularly in Infectious Diseases including 8 COVID-19 vaccines. 

Despite an already demanding role at the Mater, Paul continues as a member of the AMA Queensland Council 2023-2024, and as board member and scientific advisory board member of the Immunisation Coalition, with active interest in vaccine education and advocacy, becoming a trusted media authority and spokesperson across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker: A/Prof Hannah Moore

A/Prof Hannah Moore OAM is an infectious disease epidemiologist; Theme Head, Infectious Diseases and Co-Head of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology team at The Kids Research Institute Australia. She is also an Associate Professor within the School of Population Health, Curtin University and an Adjunct Associate Professor at University of Western Australia. She is currently a Stan Perron Charitable Foundation Fellow and has received further funding from the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund through the WA Near-miss Awards program.

Her passion for research involves using population-based data to investigate how to recognise, prevent and reduce serious respiratory and other infectious diseases in children through estimating burden of disease and evaluating the effectiveness of vaccination programs. She has developed expertise in the epidemiology of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in young children, where her research was pivotal in WA Governments’ decision to establish the first and most comprehensive RSV infant immunisation program in the nation.

Raising awareness of RSV, understanding community burden and evaluating the impact of prevention measures is now a major focus of her research program, partly funded by a $2.5M Perron Program Grant. She has previously contributed to state and national influenza vaccination policy.

In 2020 A/Prof Moore joined the Strep A Vaccine Global Consortium (SAVAC) to increase knowledge and awareness of the global burden of Group A Streptococcal diseases. She now holds an activity lead position in the US$11M-funded SAVAC 2.0.

A/Prof Moore has been awarded >$19M in competitive research grants, co-authored 150 papers, was TEDxPerth 2018 speaker, recipient of a WA Young Tall Poppy Award (2013) and the WA Premiers Science Early Career Scientist Award (2015). In 2024, she was honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to epidemiology as a researcher.

Speaker: A/Prof Stephen Lambert and Dr Ushma Wadia

A/Prof Stephen Lambert

Stephen Lambert is a public health physician and medical epidemiologist who works part time for both Queensland Health and the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. Stephen has worked in public health and been involved in vaccine preventable diseases research for over 25 years. Stephen enjoys gardening, particularly failing to grow exotic Western Australian banksias in Queensland, walking his dog, and listening to Sufjan Stevens music.

Dr Ushma Wadia 

Dr Ushma Wadia is a consultant paediatrician with specialisation in immunisation and infectious diseases at Perth Children’s Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, and medical lead at the Vaccine Trials Group within the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, The Kids Research Institute Australia. Dr Wadia has extensive experience in clinical and research vaccinology which allows patient, family and community engagement to enhance vaccine confidence, vaccine optimisation and uptake.

She is undertaking a PhD “Effectiveness of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prevention Strategies in Australian Children.”

Dr Wadia’s published results for the 2024 RSV program in WA provides the first real world effectiveness evidence demonstrating nirsevimab effectiveness against RSV hospitalisation in Australia.

Speaker: Prof Paul Van Buynder

Prof Paul Van Buynder is a Public Health Physician and past Chairman of the Immunisation Coalition. He is a professor in the School of Medicine at Griffith University in Queensland. He has held senior public health positions in a number of Australian states, in two Canadian jurisdictions and at the Centre for Infections in the UK. He has held personal appointments on sub-committees of National Immunisation Technical Advisory Committees in three continents. Paul is a reviewer of over 10 journals and has over 80 referred book chapters and articles.

Speaker: Two discussion topics

1. Maternal vaccination and infant immunisation; learnings and lessons
2. Adults/Elderly: Age groups that will benefit most from RSV vaccination and how the NIP will support increased uptake

Moderator: Dr Sarah Chu 

Dr Sarah Chu graduated from the University of Queensland in 2004 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. She is a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine and has a Certificate in Travel Health; she enjoyed providing travel medicine services at The Travel Doctor TMVC Brisbane before COVID-19 and is an accredited Yellow Fever doctor. In addition to being awarded a Fellowship from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, she is a Fellow of The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, Fellow of The Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (Faculty of Travel Medicine), Associate Member of the Faculty of Travel Medicine Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow; Dr Chu also holds a Diploma in Dermatology from the Australian Institute of Dermatology, and a Diploma in Child Health from Westmead Children’s Hospital and the University of Sydney. She enjoys practising yoga and is a registered level 1 yoga teacher with Yoga Australia. Dr Chu recently completed Physician Board Certification in Lifestyle Medicine with the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a Senior Lecturer for the University of Queensland and enjoys teaching the next generation of doctors-in-training.

Panelists:

Dr Rodney Pearce AM

Dr Rodney Pearce AM is a country and city GP and Medical Officer of Health for the Eastern Health Authority (HA), Adelaide. Dr Pearce became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day 2012. He received the award for his long-standing service to medicine as a General Practitioner, through contributions to national medical organisations and to education.

Prof Peter Richmond 

Professor Peter Richmond is a Consultant Paediatric Immunologist and Paediatrician at Perth Children’s Hospital, and is Head of the Immunology Department at the Child and Adolescent Health Service in WA. He also heads the Vaccine Trials Group within the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at the Telethon Kids Institute, and is Head of the Discipline of Paediatrics at the UWA Medical School. His major research interests are in the prevention of meningitis, pneumonia, respiratory infections and otitis media. He has authored over 300 scientific publications in these areas and has worked in vaccine research for over 25 years.

Sonja Elia 

After choosing to specialise in Immunisation in 2003, Ms Sonja Elia became an integral part of the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Immunisation service and in 2017, became Victoria’s first Nurse Practitioner (NP) in the field of Immunisation. She has a particular interest in vaccine hesitancy, special risk groups, needle phobia, BCG vaccination and immunisation education. Sonja has received multiple awards including the Dame Elizabeth Murdoch Nursing Development scholarship and the RCH Chairman’s medal. She is a current member of the Immunisation Coalition, a teaching associate with the Monash University NP program and holds honorary positions with the University of Melbourne, Department of General Practice and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

Kassie Daw 

Kassie is a Lecturer in Midwifery at the University of South Australia. She has been a midwife, lactation consultant and parent educator for many years, and has completed a Masters in Primary Maternity Care with research exploring online antenatal education. Kassie has a strong interest in developing digital health capabilities and re-working learning designs that cater for midwifery students utilising internal and external modes of delivery. She is particularly committed to tailoring online learning that embeds cultural principles, values, and intergenerational knowledge to enable cultural safety.

Katrina Clark 

Katrina Clark is a Barkindji woman from Far Western New South Wales and a leading figure in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander immunisation efforts in Australia. She currently serves as the Aboriginal Immunisation Manager for the Hunter New England Local Health District in New South Wales, where she focuses on health protection and population health initiatives.

Previously, Katrina was the National Indigenous Immunisation Coordinator at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS). In this role, she collaborated with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Immunisation Network to strengthen communication between the National Immunisation Committee and key stakeholders involved in delivering immunisation services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

With extensive experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander immunisation programs, Katrina has played a key role in governance, health promotion, surveillance, evaluation, and policy development.

Katrina has co-authored several publications addressing vaccine hesitancy and the importance of culturally tailored Aboriginal-led immunisation education. Notably, she contributed to a study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, which highlighted the critical role of Indigenous-led education in improving vaccine acceptance among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Her academic qualifications include a Master of Public Health, a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion, a Diploma in Population Health, and a Certificate IV in Indigenous Research Capacity Building.

Throughout her career, Katrina has consistently advocated for culturally appropriate, community-led approaches to immunisation. Her work continues to inform public health strategies aimed at improving immunisation coverage and health outcomes for Indigenous communities across Australia.

Speaker: Prof Paul Griffin

An Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinical Microbiologist, Professor Paul Griffin was appointed as the Director of Infectious Diseases at Mater Health Services in 2013, and most recently, to his conjoint role as Head of the Mater Clinical Unit for the University of Queensland School of Medicine. 

Paul is an accomplished clinical trial investigator, having fulfilled the role of Principal Investigator in over 150 clinical trials, particularly in Infectious Diseases including 8 COVID-19 vaccines. 

Despite an already demanding role at the Mater, Paul continues as a member of the AMA Queensland Council 2023-2024, and as board member and scientific advisory board member of the Immunisation Coalition, with active interest in vaccine education and advocacy, becoming a trusted media authority and spokesperson across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic.