New shingles vaccine on Australia's NIP

Kristine Macartney is a paediatrician and infectious disease specialist. She is a medical graduate of the University of NSW and has over 20 years of experience in vaccinology.

She has experience working in the US at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was a founding member of the US Vaccine Education Center. Her Doctorate of Medicine was on rotavirus infection, in particular the mucosal immune response to novel vaccine candidates. She is interested in all aspects of vaccine preventable disease research, particularly policy development, vaccine safety and prevention of viral diseases. She is the Senior Editor of the Australian Immunisation Handbook. Kristine is a Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and has a conjoint academic appointment as Professor in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Sydney.

Professor Paul Kelly is a public health physician and epidemiologist with more than 30 years’ research experience. He has worked around the world in health system development and infectious disease epidemiology.

Paul was one of the leads in developing the FluCAN project – a national influenza surveillance system used by hospitals to track patients who are hospitalised with influenza. This work helps to determine the effectiveness of the yearly influenza vaccine.

Paul has vast experience in infectious disease epidemiology, in particular influenza, pneumonia and tuberculosis. 

Dawn Casey is a Tagalaka traditional owner from North Queensland.

Dawn is Deputy CEO at the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and currently co-chairs the COVID-19 Indigenous Advisory Committee.

She has held part-time positions as Chair of the Indigenous Land Commission and Indigenous Business Australia and full-time positions as Director of the Western Australian Museum, the Powerhouse Museum and the National Museum of Australia.

Dawn was responsible for managing the design and construction of the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies through a world-first project delivery alliance contract.

Her career has also included a number of key executive positions in the public sector in areas including the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Indigenous Affairs, Cultural Heritage, and Overseas Aid and Development.

Dawn has been awarded three honorary doctorates – by Charles Sturt University, the University of Queensland and Macquarie University – the Australian Government Public Service Medal and Centenary Medal, three Australia Day Public Service Medals and the Australian Institute of Architects’ Clem Cummings Award. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Bette Liu is a medically trained epidemiologist with extensive national and international experience in the design, conduct and analysis of large-scale epidemiological studies using record linkage of administrative heath data, and e-medical records. She trained in medicine and public health at the University of Sydney and obtained her doctorate in epidemiology from the University of Oxford. She leads the Population Health Group at NCIRS, which focuses on using big data to evaluate vaccine programs to inform communicable diseases control policy.

Anthony (Tony) Cunningham is a highly experienced viral immunologist, infectious diseases clinician and scientist, well known internationally for his research on the immunology of HIV and herpes viruses, his work on vaccine development and trialling – especially for shingles and herpes – and as an antivirals expert. 

Tony is the Director of the Centre for Virus Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research; Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health and vaccine theme leader at the Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases at the University of Sydney; and Director of the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research. He has extended his research to COVID-19 vaccine development and trialling, funded by state and national grants, and has assumed other advisory positions to government in this field.

Tara Anderson serves as an Epidemiologist and the Zoster Program Lead in the Mumps, Varicella and Zoster Team (Viral Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch, Division of Viral Diseases, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases) at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her work focuses on the epidemiology and surveillance of herpes zoster, herpes zoster vaccine policy and monitoring of herpes zoster vaccine effectiveness, safety and impact. She served as the CDC Lead of the ACIP Herpes Zoster Work Group during deliberations on the use of recombinant zoster vaccine in immunocompromised adults. Tara is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and is Certified in Public Health.

Jean Li-Kim-Moy is a Staff Specialist in immunisation at NCIRS. He also works as a community general paediatrician. He joined NCIRS in 2011 and has assisted in numerous vaccine clinical trials. He completed a PhD on influenza vaccination in Australian children in 2018. He is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer with the Sydney Medical School's Children's Hospital Westmead Clinical School (University of Sydney) and has a research interest in influenza vaccine safety and immunogenicity in children. Jean currently works as part of the Research to Inform Policy team at NCIRS and provides technical support on vaccine evaluation to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

Sara Oliver is currently the Team Lead of the Mumps, Varicella and Zoster team in the Division of Viral Diseases at CDC. She is a Medical Officer in the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases. During her time at CDC, she previously served as the lead for the ACIP Work Group for COVID-19 vaccines and has worked on other vaccine preventable diseases, including HPV, Haemophilius influenzae and meningococcal diseases. She is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Disease and holds a Masters of Science in Public Health. 

Marcelle Noja is the Assistant Secretary to the Immunisation Branch, Emergency Management Division at the Australian Government. She has an extensive background in public health, having worked across numerous policy areas, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, mental health, tobacco plain packaging and outbreak response. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Marcelle led the Public Health and Surveillance Branch; her key work included acting as the Commonwealth representative on the Communicable Diseases Network Australia and working on the COVID-19 reopening agenda. Additional highlights throughout the pandemic included outbreak response in First Nations communities and the establishment of new policy for a GP respiratory clinics panel.

Megan Campbell is a public health physician and Medical Advisor at NACCHO. She holds degrees in public health and health policy. Megan’s work focuses on supporting Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to plan and respond to communicable disease issues, including sexually transmitted infections and blood-borne viruses.