October 2024 NCIC Newsletter

October 25, 2024

Dear all,

Welcome to the October edition of the NCIC newsletter!

As we approach the year's end, we have many exciting announcements to share that highlight the outstanding work being accomplished at NCIC so far.

Also, we look forward to November hosting an array of incredible symposiums and events.

These events are a fantastic opportunity to hear from ID experts so be sure to sign up and register your attendance!

2024 NCIC SYMPOSIUM!

Next Friday the 1st of November is the NCIC's annual symposium, this year promises to be an exciting and insightful event, focusing on “Tackling Fungal Infections: Novel Immune & Diagnostic Approaches.”

Guest international speaker Prof. Dimitrios Kontoyiannis from MD Anderson will delve into the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in managing invasive fungal infections. We will also hear from other guest speakers on their topics all set to be fantastic presentations.

The symposium will also feature a panel discussion with experts including Prof. Monica Slavin, Prof. David Gottlieb, Dr. Shivani Pasricha, and Dr. Julian Lindsay. Together, they will explore future directions for immune therapies in treating fungal infections.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided, so be sure to register your attendance to ensure you don’t miss out!

Announcements and Achievements

Congratulations Prof Monica Salvin - Inducted into Royal Melbourne Hospital Research Hall of Fame 2024

Earlier this month, The Royal Melbourne Hosptial (RMH) held their 2024 Research Conference. During the closing remarks Prof Monica Slavin was honoured with the award by becoming inducted into the RMH Hall of Fame. This award recognises her dedication, commitment and contributions to infectious diseases research.

Congratulations to Dr. Victoria Hall for winning the 2024 Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Research

This award recognises the outstanding achievements in the previous calendar year across three categories; Research Publications/ Outputs; Recognition of Excellence (awards and prizes); Research Impact and Engagement (contributions to, and engagement with faculty, UoM and external community groups).

Special thanks to Tori’s primary supervisor, Dr. Ben Teh, and co-supervisors Professor Monica Slavin, Michelle Yong, and Professor Katherine Kierderska.

Congratulations A/Prof Michelle Yong: Appointed Board Director of the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium

The Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium unites leading researchers and clinical organisations to create a central hub that fosters collaboration across diverse disciplines. Well done, A/Prof Michelle Yong, on this important appointment! Your commitment to collaboration and expertise will play a vital role in improving outcomes for children with cancer and their families.

Congratulations to Dr Morgan Rose for passing his PhD

Dr Morgan Rose’s PhD focus was on Antibiotic Allergy in Critical Care and Cancer: Implementation of novel digital health solutions and health service models.

Your hard work has paid off, and this recognition is well-deserved. Well done!

Show me dr Rose’s world first study into penicillin allergy

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Workshop

Infectious disease experts propose trials network dedicated to immunocompromised patients. ImmunOptimize workshop convened stakeholders across disciplines to brainstorm infectious disease clinical trials network designed to serve people with weakened immune systems.

“We need roots, not parachutes,” said Fred Hutch Cancer Center infectious disease expert Joshua Hill, MD, who headed the ImmunOptimize scientific committee. “We need a grassroots effort to address the unmet needs of immunocompromised patients. The time is right to bring the conversations to the forefront.”

Feature Paper

NCIC PhD candidate Dr Olivia Smibert has recently published details of the HOMISPEC project which aims to collect paired stool and saliva from up to 768 participants over 5 years with the aim of exploring the link between gut microbiota and health in organ transplant and immunocompromised patients.

Learn more about the project

Global Health Celebrations

World Pharmacist Day: NCIC Pharmacy Careers

World Pharmacist Day internationally recognises and celebrates the crucial role that pharmacists play in the creating healthier communities. At NCIC, we recently held a successful Pharmacist Career Info Night, where we showcased the remarkable career paths of our pharmacy PhDs. This event highlighted their achievements and offered valuable insights into the diverse opportunities at the NCIC.

Please watch below video recording of this meeting.

World Sepsis Day

September 13th is World Sepsis Day; it is a global initiative that aims to raise awareness about this life-threatening condition. NCIC’s expert Infectious Diseases Nurse Practitioner Belinda Lambros says that the faster we recognise those signs, the faster we can treat them, and the better the outcome.

To spread the awareness of Sepsis please read and share below the information document below.

Upcoming Events

Australia Centre for Transplantation excellence and research (ACTER) - CMV &Transplant Infectious Diseases Symposium

Monday 11 November 2024 2:00pm

The Austin Hosptial

The ACTER Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Transplant Infectious Diseases Symposium will bring together clinicians from various specialties to discuss updates on CMV management in solid organ transplant and address clinical challenges related to infection risks in deceased organ donors.

Keynote speaker Associate Professor Camille Kotton will lead the discussion, followed by patient case reviews and networking opportunities.

Please see below QR Code and button to sign up.

Forbes Week 2024

13-15 November, 2024

Host Sites: Alfred, RMH/Peter Mac, Monash
Fellow: Dr. Camille Kotton, MGH
Dr. Kotton is an esteemed clinician with extensive expertise in transplant infectious diseases, particularly in CMV, vaccines, and travel health.

On Thursday, November 14, the oration will take place at Peter Mac Centre from 5:45 PM, followed by a dinner at Red Spice Road at 7 PM. Tickets are $150, which includes a multi-course meal and drinks.

Please book your tickets via Forbes Week Dinner below.

Forbes Week Dinner tickets

ICHS Webinar: Landscape of CMV Management in Transplant Recipients

5th December, 2024

This series will provide dynamic, interactive content based on needs assessments and feedback from our scientific sessions. The goal is to deliver comprehensive scientific programming, insights into cutting-edge research, innovative care practices, and Q&A opportunities with a diverse range of experts.

More information on this session

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer

September 2024 NCIC Newsletter

September 06, 2024

Dear all,

The September newsletter is a bumper edition with a second NHMRC CRE for NCIC and a second for our sister CRE NCAS announced and an ANZMIG grant awarded to Dr Zoe Neoh. We welcome a visiting resident doctor in Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the University of Bologna - Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Italy, Dr Beatrice Miani. We also have two important surveys open and invite you to participate in the INTERACT study run by our feature NCIC PhD clinician Dr Priya Garg and an International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) education needs survey. We ran a hugely successful Pharmacy PhD Career night this last month, you can view the career journey stories of our amazing NCIC and NCAS Pharmacists on our youtube channel. Also on our youtube channel is a recent open Unit meeting “C. difficile round table: spotlight on the cancer FMT experience” which is a must watch as we plan to implement FMTs in ICH patients in Melbourne. Also announcing some save the dates for NCIC symposium “Tackiling Fungal Infections” with a fantastic line up of presenters, and Forbes week featuring ICHS Council alum Prof Camille Kotton, MD coming up in November.

Grant announcements

NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence

Transforming infection management in the era of emerging cancer therapies is the second NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) grant awarded to the NCIC team. Building on our initial CRE in 2017 and ongoing Synergy grant (awarded in 2022) we will lead a programme aimed at improving infection management for patients undergoing new cancer therapies. With the rise of immune system-targeting treatments like CAR T-cell therapy and small molecule inhibitors, survival rates for cancer patients have increased dramatically. However, these therapies come with a heightened risk of infections, which remain a leading cause of mortality among treated individuals.

We will utilise real-world data to better understand infection rates, risk factors, and outcomes in patients post-therapy. The goal is to develop new care models and enhance infection prevention strategies by leveraging digital health technologies, such as electronic health records.

This approach promises to optimise patient outcomes and establish new standards in infection management for cancer care and we are excited to pioneer research that integrates cutting-edge digital health solutions with real-world clinical data. Our aim is to lead both nationally and internationally in transforming how infections are managed in the era of advanced cancer therapies.

ANZMIG Research grant awarded to Dr Zoe Neoh

Susceptibilities of clinical non-Aspergillus mould (NAM) isolates to current and new antifungal agents in Australia and New Zealand or the NAM study has received funding support from ANZMIG to perform isolate susceptibility testing in conjunction with NCIC collaborator Prof Sharon Chen, Westmead, Sydney. Congratulations Zoe and team! You can hear more from Zoe and her career journey as a Pharmacist PhD on our Pharmacy PhD Career night recording.

We need your help!

The ICHS is conducting an informal educational needs assessment to identify gaps in knowledge and educational needs for those treating immunocompromised patients. Please respond to this brief 6-question survey by September 13, 2024.

INTERACT Study

On behalf of the INTERACT study group (headed by Professor Monica Slavin, Professor Lisa Hall and A/Professor Leon Worth) at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and National Centre for Infections in Cancer, you are invited to participate in an Australia/New Zealand survey on infection prevention and surveillance practice in the care of those with cancer and or transplant (solid-organ/haematopoietic stem-cell).

This survey seeks input from all infectious diseases/ microbiology and or infection prevention healthcare professionals (physicians/registrars/ nurses and allied health) working with hospitalised adult cancer and or transplant recipients in Australasian healthcare facilities, and is being conducted to establish knowledge and better understand clinical practice in infection prevention well as mechanisms for monitoring and reporting of opportunistic and healthcare-associated pathogens amongst this vulnerable group.

Participants will not be required to input their name or that of their facility, and multiple respondents from the same facility may participate.

Results from this study will support focussed quality improvement projects to help reduce the incidence of preventable infection amongst this high-risk immunocompromised cohort. Your participation is vital in aiding further research in this area, and we are grateful for your consideration.

The survey should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete

Welcome International Fellow

Welcome Dr Beatrice Miani

Visiting resident doctor in Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the University of Bologna - Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Italy.

Seminars to watch

Staff profile: Dr Priya Garg MBBS BSc DTM&H FRACP

Infectious Diseases Physician

NCIC PhD Candidate

ASID HICSIG Committee

Priya’s PhD will work in collaboration with Australasian healthcare-workers to establish current knowledge, clinical practice and infrastructure for infection prevention and surveillance of healthcare-associated and opportunistic infections in the vulnerable cancer and transplant population nationwide. This will be built on by a multi-site project with the aim of quantifying rates of key infections amongst this cohort and identifying modifiable risk factors at a patient level. Dr Garg will then use this data to determine infectious priorities and ultimately support focussed nationally applicable quality improvement projects with the overall objective of informing future strategy to strengthen infection prevention and surveillance in cancer and transplant across Australasia. Supervised by Professor Monica Slavin, Professor Lisa Hall and A/Professor Leon Worth we look forward to following Priya’s PhD progress!

The INTERACT Study survey is now open

Upcoming meetings

Forbes Week

November 13-15 2024

Oration and Dinner Thursday 14th Nov

Camille Nelson Kotton MD, FIDSA, FAST is the Clinical Director of Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases in the Infectious Diseases Division at the Massachusetts General Hospital. She spends the majority of her time seeing inpatients and outpatients, before and after solid organ and bone marrow transplant, as well as other immunocompromised hosts. Her interests include vaccination, travel medicine for transplant recipients, and reducing the infectious risks of immunocompromising medications. She has written numerous articles and chapters, and also speaks nationally and internationally on a regular basis. She is the past chair of the Infectious Disease Community of Practice, American Society of Transplantation, and is on the planning committee for the American Transplant Congress. She has excellent clinic flexibility and can often see transplant patients on a fairly immediate basis.

Please speak to your local Forbes week organising committee member for more info

Camille Kotton, MD
**Infectious Disease Specialist**
Clinical Director, Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

July 2024 NCIC Newsletter

July 31, 2024

Dear all,

Welcome to the July edition of the NCIC newsletter! This month we are celebrating new staff members, officially opening the fungal NAPS and inviting you to some exciting events coming up. We also wish everyone putting in to the latest round of NHMRC adn MRFF grants good luck! We are excited to continue to support and collaborate all our NCIC partners.

Announcements

**Welcome new staff!**

Evona and Sapna have started at the NCIC recently. Evona is our new AMS- CNS and Sapna our new clinical trials admin assistant. Welcome both!

We would like to invite Australian hospitals to participate in the 2024 national benchmarked Antifungal NAPS audit.

Upcoming Events

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer

June 2024 NCIC Newsletter

May 07, 2024

Dear all,

Welcome to the June newsletter, acknowledging the past few weeks. As the international conference excitement simmers down, the NCIC community is still jam packed with new announcements, achievements, and new conferences to look forward to!

Announcements

Congratulations to Dr Julian Lindsay on being one of three finalists in the HSR category of the 2024 Victoria Premiers Award for Science!

Julian completed his PhD looking at antimicrobials as prophylaxis in Haem patients at NCIC in 2023 and has since gone to join the Fred Hutch as a Clinical Pharmacist. Julian recently co-authored a Transplant Infectious Diseases publication on the role of Pharmacists in the clinical care of Haem patients.

Read Julian’s article - Expanding the scope of the infectious diseases pharmacist in HCT: Beyond antimicrobial stewardship

Specialist pharmacists are becoming increasingly important in the care of cancer patients with infections. We have successfully developed and implemented a NCIC AMS pharmacist role to provide supervised research opportunities, build a track record and prepare to enter a PhD program. With close ties to our sister CREs The National Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship, and CRE-Respond we have opportunities for pharmacists to work with leading collaborators in PK/PD modelling, antibiotic drug level monitoring, and national antimicrobial stewardship programs. Our website has more info on the pharmacist PhD pathway.

Monica ranked #50 within Australia and 1 of 5 women within the top 50. Well done, Monica!

Research. Com's best researchers ranking is a lineup of leading scientists from the discipline of Microbiology, created using a thorough study of 166,880 scientists identified from multiple bibliometric data sources. For the discipline of Microbiology, over 44555 scientists were examined.

World Online Ranking of Best Microbiology Scientists – 2024 Report

World-first PMCC study into penicillin allergy in critical illness

Dr Morgan Rose, a Peter Mac PhD student and infectious diseases physician at the PMCC Infectious Diseases Unit’s National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC), recently published a world-first study into penicillin allergy in leading critical care journal, Intensive Care Medicine.

Dr Rose completed the world’s first randomised control trial of a tablet test dose for low-risk penicillin allergy in the intensive care unit (ICU). The study included 80 critically ill patients who reported a penicillin allergy in four Melbourne ICUs. Each patient consented to being randomly assigned to receive either a penicillin test dose or routine care without a test dose.

Dr Rose found that 98% of patients tested were found to no longer be allergic, even after repeat doses of penicillin. There were no serious adverse reactions identified following penicillin testing.

Whilst penicillins are often the antibiotics of choice for critically ill patients, almost 7% of ICU patients believe they have a penicillin allergy and therefore receive alternate therapies.

Dr Rose's work will be of great benefit to the hospital’s sickest patients. “Patients in intensive care have a greater need for antibiotics. By demonstrating that ICU patients no longer have a penicillin allergy, we can offer them the best possible care at a time when they need it most.”

Professor Monica Slavin, PMCC Infectious Diseases and NCIC Director says "This work highlights the strong collaborative links between PMCC/NCIC as world-leaders in antibiotic allergy research and improves the equity of access to allergy assessment in some of our most vulnerable patients."

This groundbreaking research helps to expand the equity of access to timely antibiotic allergy assessment. Dr Rose plans to build on the findings of this study to explore the impact of penicillin allergy testing on subsequent antibiotic use within the intensive care unit setting.

Congratulations Dr Morgan Rose for completing his PhD!

Dr Morgan Rose’s project: antibiotic allergy in critical care and cancer: implementation of novel digital health solutions and health service models. Supervised by Prof Monica Slavin, A/Prof Jason Trubiano, Dr Natasha Holmes and mentored by Dr Janine Trevillyan.

Past events

Celebrated International Nurses Day

We celebrated International Nurses Day on the 12th of May. We recognise the societal benefit nurses provide by contributing to the advancement of medical science. Everyday our nurses are putting in the hard groundwork and by doing so, deliver amazing care to patients, consumers, and each other. At NCIC our nurses are the future; with nurse led research, Antimicrobial Stewardship CNS, Nurse Practitioner pathways and practice changing clinical trials all currently underway!

American Transplant Congress 2024

The American Transplant Congress (ATC) is the Joint Annual Meeting of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) and the American Society of Transplantation (AST). The educational offerings provide attendees the opportunity to learn cutting-edge advances in research and exchange of ideas and practice in the field of solid organ and tissue transplantation.
Prof Monica Slavin recently presented at the 2024 American Transplant Congress, Philly on managing infection risk in SOT with additional immune suppression conditions. Looks like a great meeting!

Upcoming Events

Access more details on the Drug Hypersensitivity Symposium

Registration opens the 22nd of May 2024 and closes the 5th October 2024

Learn more About Symposium on Infectious Diseases in the immunocompromised Host

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

May 2024 NCIC Newsletter

May 06, 2024

Dear all,

April hosted many successful conferences that connected Infectious diseases experts from across the world. I am extremely proud to say that the NCIC had a magnificent presence at these events, from leading seminars to poster presentations. This month's newsletter will highlight some of these moments!

ESCMID Global Congress 2024 Highlights

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) is the Premier European Infectious Diseases conference attended by over 20,000 people with an average of 5,000 scientific abstracts submitted.

Professor Slavin is an executive member of the ECCMID Immunocompromised Host Study Group and Prof Thursky is an executive member of the AMS study group.

This year the congress was held in Barcelona, Spain and was attended by 10 NCIC current and past staff members.

The presented work include -

PhD candidate Victoria Hall, who presented results from the InFLUencer trial, which showed that two doses of adjuvanted flu vaccine in patients with haematological malignancy have more side effects for no benefit, compared to two standard doses of flu vaccine.
Dr Ben Teh, on strategies for vaccination uptake in immunocompromised people.
Dr Zoe Neoh, on success in rare mould infections.
Dr Anna Khanina, who led the meet-the-expert session on invasive fungal infection management.

ESCMID presentation images of Dr Neoh, Dr Khanina, Prof Slavin, Group image of NCIC colleagues, Dr Teh

ESCMID Late Breakers

Interferon-α (IFN-α) nasal spray reduces the incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients

A/Prof Michelle Yong presenting Late breaker CSMART Trial at ESCMID

A/Prof Michelle Yong presented the outcomes of the NCIC developed IFN-a nasal spray at this years ECCMID, Barcelona, Spain. The late breaker abstract detailed the outcomes of the CSMART trial (Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04534725, ACTRN12620000843954); a world first randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study performed in 433 adults with solid tumor or haematological malignancy in 2020-2023.

Participants were randomly given IFN-α or saline (placebo) nasal spray and asked to take one spray per nostril daily for 3 months. Participants who developed symptoms self-collected nasal swabs for PCR testing and performed a RAT and sent them to the Peter Mac National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC) study team.

COVID infections happened significantly less in patients who used the IFN-a spray compared to those who used the placebo.

“This is a very exciting and significant innovation. IFN-α nasal spray can provide an additional measure to vaccination and monoclonal antibodies in preventing COVID-19 in cancer patients and was well tolerated with few side effects. There is lots of further research to be done but this adds to all our other preventative measures especially in immunecompromised.”
- A/ Prof Michelle Yong

ICHS 2024 Biennial Symposium Highlights

A/Prof Michelle Yong announced Council Vice President

Prof Roy Chemaly (ICHS President) and A/Prof Michelle Yong

A/Prof Michelle Yong, ICHS Member at large was announced as the Council Vice President at the ICHS AGM, during ICHS 2024, Antalya Turkey. Michelle will join President Prof Roy Chemaly as Vice President during the 2026 ICHS, Houston, Texas. She will then hold office of President Elect in 2028 and finally will be President ICHS in 2030.

The International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) is the premier, international, multidisciplinary forum for scientific and clinical interchange to improve understanding and management of the immunocompromised host. Their mission is to advance the understanding of the interactions between host defense and microbial agents to improve prevention and management of human disease in patients with compromised immune function. The ICHS biennial symposium brings together leaders in the field such as Prof Roy Chemaly, Prof Murat Akova, Prof Dimitrous Kontoyiannis, Prof Steven Pergam, Prof Camille Cotton, Prof Jay Fischman and many others with clinicians and scientists in a small intimate setting, emphasising on trainee mentoring and career development.

The ICHS symposium is held every 2 years in the country of origin of the Council President of that year. Prof Monica Slavin was the first Australian President of the ICHS council with the ICSH Symposium held virtually in 2021. We are very excited to announce that we will hold the first in person ICHS in Australia in 2030 with A/Prof Michelle Yong as President.

We strongly encourage you to engage the society and start planning for #ICHS2030! Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Follow ICHS on their website, X (formly twitter) and LinkedIn.

Dr Abby Douglas was awarded best poster at ICHS 2024!

Announced at ICHS 2024 was best abstract winner Dr Abby Douglas: Pre-neutropenic fever in high-risk haematology patients: A novel target for antimicrobial stewardship. Congratulations Abby!

Dr Abby Douglas presenting at ICHS 2024, Antalya

Staff profile: This month we are featuring the remarkable, accomplished Dr Victoria (Tori) Hall!

Tori has just departed our shores to take up a position as Transplant Infectious Diseases physician, Clinician-investigator at University of Toronto / University Health Network in Toronto, Canada.

Dr Ben Teh, Dr Tori Hall, Prof Monica Slavin

Tori completed her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, (MBBS, Hons) in 2011 at the University of Melbourne. Completing her Advanced training in FRACP, Infectious Diseases) 2019 at the Alfred Hospital she then went on to complete a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville (MPHTM) in 2020 before completing a 12 month Clinical Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases fellowship at the University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada during COVID. During this 12 month stint Tori's research career really took off with 36 publications since 2020 including in NEJM, Nature Comms, Nature Immunol and Lancet regional health-Western pacific.

Tori returned to Australia in 2022 to undertake a PhD at the NCIC University of Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Doherty Institute “Defining host immune response and prevention strategies for viral respiratory tract infections in patients with hematological malignancy” Supervisors: A/Prof Benjamin Teh, Professor Monica Slavin, Dr Michelle Yong, Professor Katherine Kedzierska with an impressive 8 publications and 10 presentations at national and international conferences and counting from her PhD work.

Tori has also received numerous awards and accolades during her NCIC PhD including a Victorian COVID-19 Vaccinees Collection (VC2) COVID-19 Research Seed Funding award, a Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Foundation Grant, a Dr Francisco Marty Transplant Infectious Disease Journal Editorial Fellowship, an American Transplant Congress Infectious Disease Community of Practice Travel Grant and The Rosie Lew Peter Mac Foundation Postgraduate Award.

We wish Tori all the best in her future career which we are sure will continue on its meteoric trajectory. We look forward to many years of fruitful collaborations with her in Canada!

We are hiring for two positions!

apply

apply

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

April 2024 NCIC Newsletter

April 02, 2024

Dear all,

This month is full of many exciting conferences that will connect Infectious Diseases experts from all across the world. These events will be a platform for sharing many significant abstracts and presentations among our colleagues.

NCIC Team 2024

From left, (front) Belinda DePoi, Rachel Woolstencroft, Paul Kinsella, Zoe Neoh, Karin Thursky, Monica Slavin, Victoria Hall, Abby Douglas, Elizabeth Gillespie, (middle) Emily Klimevski, Zahra Alizada, Gemma Reynolds, Paul Lawton, Michelle Yong, Megan Crane, (back) Eve Jelovcan, Jess Demajo, Hayley Page, Ben Teh, Vlada Rozova, Nikhil Singh

Announcements

Congratulations to Associate Professor Michelle Yong

Peter Mac infectious diseases physician and researcher Dr Michelle Yong has been appointed to Associate Professor within the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at the University of Melbourne. Medical Lead for the National Centre for Infections in Cancer’s Clinical Trials Unit, Associate Professor Yong’s research work specialises in cytomegalovirus (CMV) and viral infections in transplant and immune-compromised hosts. She has 55 publications and has attracted more than $19 million in funding since 2018, including grants through the MRFF and the NHMRC. A winner of the Peter Mac Discovery Fellowship and the Peter Mac Lea Medal, Associate Professor Yong is recognised internationally, and is passionate about advancing gender equity in medical research. This is a very well-deserved achievement - congratulations Associate Professor Yong, from all of NCIC and Peter Mac.

This week: See you Anatalya, Turkey for the ICHS Biennial Symposium 4-7 April 2024

We will have a number of posters and presentations. Attended by Michelle Yong, Monica Slavin, Ben Teh, Nicholas Laundy, Megan Crane and Gemma Reynolds.

Abstract Title: A CASE OF BRAIN AND LIVER ABSCESSES POST-STEM CELL TRANSPLANT IN THE SETTING OF SUBOPTIMAL ANTIMICROBIAL PROPHYLAXIS for presentation at the ICHS 23rd Symposium Jack Cooper, Alistair Tinson, Florence Ho, Michelle K Yong
Abstract Title: Mixed Invasive Mould Infections in Patients with Haematologic Malignancy Shio Yen Tio1-3, Leon J. Worth1-3, David Ritchie3,5-6, Joe Sasadeusz4, Lynette Chee5, Monica A. Slavin1-4, Michelle K. Yong1-4
Poster presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Cost-effectiveness of FDG-PET/CT for investigation of persistent or recurrent neutropenic fever in high risk patients
Poster presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Pre-neutropenic fever in high-risk haematology patients: A novel target for antimicrobial stewardship
Invited speaker presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Treatment of febrile neutropenia in 2024 in a low risk setting
Abstract Title: Anaerobe-targeting antibiotic exposure associated with poor overall survival after liver transplant -Dr Olivia Smibert BMedSci, MBBS (Hons) FRACP, Dip Trop Med Head of Transplant Infectious Diseases

Next up - We will see you in Barcelona, Spain- ECCMID 27-30 April 2024

Abstract Title: Real-world single centre analysis of virological response to Third party CMV-specific T cell lymphocyte (CTL) for refractory CMV infection following allogeneic haematopoietic cell therapy (HCT) Ray Mun Koo1,2, Michelle K Yong 3,4,5, Sarah Tan1, Alexandra Rivalland1, Joe Sasadeusz4 ,Claire Dowsing1, Elizabeth O’Flaherty1, Barbara Hockridge1, Emma-Kate McPherson1, David S Ritchie1,2
Abstract Title: Interferon-α (IFN-α) nasal spray as prophylaxis reduces the incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients: A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study (The C-SMART Trial) Michelle K. Yong1-4, Karin Thursky1-4, Megan Crane1,4, Tim Spelman4, Robert K. Mahar5, Julie Simpson5, Andrew M. Scott6, Simon J. Harrison7, Jeff Szer7, Marc Pellegrini8, Senthil Lingaratnam9, Ken C. Pang10, Surekha Tennakoon1,4, Emily Blyth11, Hui K. Gan12, Hang Quach13, Michelle P. McIntosh14, Hayley Page1,3,4, Rachel Woolstencroft1,3,4, Monica Slavin1-4
Invited speaker presentation Dr Zoe Neoh: Beyond clinical trials: Real-world insights into Lomentospora prolificans and Scedosporium spp. infections and treatment

Feature Paper - Antibacterial prophylaxis for neutropenic and high-risk hematology patients-Do the benefits outweigh the risk?

NCIC’s current and former PhD students, Dr Gemma Reynolds and Dr Julian Lindsay, provide an updated commentary on the role of quinolone prophylaxis in febrile neutropenia, following their work together on the upcoming Febrile Neutropenia Guidelines. The collaboration is hopefully one of many between the NCIC and Fred Hutch Cancer Centre, where Dr Lindsay now works as a clinical research pharmacist focusing on infections in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Find the feature paper here

World TB Day- Multidisciplinary case discussion on Ventoclax and TB

Acknowledging World TB day, last Thursday 28th of March we held a special Multidisciplinary case discussion on Ventoclax and TB with Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s Infectious Disease’s unit and PMCC Haem unit. You can view the recording within the NCIC’s journal club page under the March Seminar: TB and Venetoclax.

Find unit meeting recording here

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

March 2024 NCIC Newsletter

February 27, 2024

Dear all,

Welcome to the third newsletter of this year. The next few months will be very busy for the NCIC, with many exciting international events. These events will be a platform for sharing many significant abstracts and presentations among our colleagues. Stay tuned for updates and highlights from these events!

Announcements

Fantastic Effort! TWO Late Breaker oral abstracts will be presented at ECCMID 2024!

NCIC is extremely proud to announce two late icebreaker oral abstracts were accepted to be presented at ECCMID 2024. Dr Michelle Yong and Dr Vicotria Hall will be presenting their abstracts within a 1- hour oral session. Please visit the ECCMID 2024 programme website to review live changes to session times.

Dr Victoria Hall

**A randomised trial of two standard dose vs two adjuvanted influenza vaccines in patients with haematological malignancy**

Dr Michelle Yong

**IFN nasal spray as prophylaxis reduces the incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients: A randomized double blinded placebo- controlled study (The C-SMART Trial)**

Congratulations Dr Abby Douglas for receiving Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Lea Award!

We're excited to share the great news that Dr. Abby Douglas, a respected NCIC Investigator, has won the 2024 Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Lea Award! This award recognizes female identifying researchers in response to historic gender imbalances in senior ranks of health and science. Abby's groundbreaking work, which started during her NCIC PhD, is all about developing better ways to diagnose Invasive Fungal Infections (IFIs). Abby's work ultimately means less time in hospital and fewer antibiotics for highly vulnerable cancer patients.

From left to right: Dr Dineika Chandrananda, Dr Abby Douglas

Professor Monica Slavin has been appointed “ESCMID Fellow” – Well done!

Congratulations Prof Monica Slavin in being appointed by the ESCMID Executive Committee to receive the title of "ESCMID Fellow". The merit-based title "ESCMID Fellow" recognizes individuals who have achieved professional excellence and rendered outstanding service to the profession and society.

Exciting news: Numerous accepted abstracts to be featured in upcoming events

The next few months will be busy with many exciting events that will take place over March and April. These events will provide the opportunity to communicate on an international level the important work we do. Please attend to support the presenting collogues from all around the world.

NCIC Colleagues Featured abstracts and speaker presentations:

Australasian society for Infectious Diseases (ASID) Annual Scientific Meeting 7-9 March 2024

Abstract Title: Characterising Respiratory Infections in Immune-suppressed Haematology Patients Undergoing Bronchoscopy (CRISP BAL study) – Analysis of the First 80 Episodes of Pulmonary Infiltrates Shio Yen Tio1-3, Leon J. Worth1-3, Surekha Tennakoon1,2, Emily Klimevski1,2, Kar Yee Yong1,2, David Ritchie3,5-6, Joe Sasadeusz4, Lynette Chee5,6, Louis Irving7, Renee Manser7, Monica A. Slavin1-4, Michelle K. Yong1-4

European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) 27-30 April 2024

Abstract Title: Real-world single centre analysis of virological response to Third party CMV-specific T cell lymphocyte (CTL) for refractory CMV infection following allogeneic haematopoietic cell therapy (HCT) Ray Mun Koo1,2, Michelle K Yong 3,4,5, Sarah Tan1, Alexandra Rivalland1, Joe Sasadeusz4 ,Claire Dowsing1, Elizabeth O’Flaherty1, Barbara Hockridge1, Emma-Kate McPherson1, David S Ritchie1,2
Abstract Title: Interferon-α (IFN-α) nasal spray as prophylaxis reduces the incidence of COVID-19 in cancer patients: A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled study (The C-SMART Trial) Michelle K. Yong1-4, Karin Thursky1-4, Megan Crane1,4, Tim Spelman4, Robert K. Mahar5, Julie Simpson5, Andrew M. Scott6, Simon J. Harrison7, Jeff Szer7, Marc Pellegrini8, Senthil Lingaratnam9, Ken C. Pang10, Surekha Tennakoon1,4, Emily Blyth11, Hui K. Gan12, Hang Quach13, Michelle P. McIntosh14, Hayley Page1,3,4, Rachel Woolstencroft1,3,4, Monica Slavin1-4
Invited speaker presentation Dr Zoe Neoh: Beyond clinical trials: Real-world insights into Lomentospora prolificans and Scedosporium spp. infections and treatment

International Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) Biennial Symposium 4-7 April 2024

Abstract Title: A CASE OF BRAIN AND LIVER ABSCESSES POST-STEM CELL TRANSPLANT IN THE SETTING OF SUBOPTIMAL ANTIMICROBIAL PROPHYLAXIS for presentation at the ICHS 23rd Symposium Jack Cooper, Alistair Tinson, Florence Ho, Michelle K Yong
Abstract Title: Mixed Invasive Mould Infections in Patients with Haematologic Malignancy Shio Yen Tio1-3, Leon J. Worth1-3, David Ritchie3,5-6, Joe Sasadeusz4, Lynette Chee5, Monica A. Slavin1-4, Michelle K. Yong1-4
Poster presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Cost-effectiveness of FDG-PET/CT for investigation of persistent or recurrent neutropenic fever in high risk patients
Poster presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Pre-neutropenic fever in high-risk haematology patients: A novel target for antimicrobial stewardship

Invited speaker presentation Dr Abby Douglas: Treatment of febrile neutropenia in 2024 in a low risk setting
Abstract Title: Anaerobe-targeting antibiotic exposure associated with poor overall survival after liver transplant -Dr Olivia Smibert BMedSci, MBBS (Hons) FRACP, Dip Trop Med Head of Transplant Infectious Diseases

Feature Paper - Editor’s Choice!

Dr Nikhil Singh was this month’s feature paper’s lead author. Nihil is recognised as a foundation fellow of the Australian and New Zealand college of advanced pharmacy as a consultant in infectious diseases and stewardship. This feature paper was acknowledged as the editor’s choice for the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, well done to the team!

feature paper here

Paper summary: Antimicrobial use, guideline compliance and appropriateness were assessed using 10 years of national prescription data for neutropenic fever. Piperacillin-tazobactam was the most widely preferred antimicrobial however underdosing was observed. Higher rates of inappropriate prescribing were found among the paediatric cohort and private hospitals, highlighting the need to increase resources for antimicrobial stewardship in these settings.

What do you think is a valuable focus for an antifual prescribing audit? Please complete NAPS survey!

The Antifungal National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS), launched in 2022, is a targeted deep dive audit assisting hospitals to understand the quality of systemic antifungal prescribing in their facility. It is a powerful tool to optimise the quality of antifungal prescribing and allows benchmarking of performance against similar facilities.  

The NAPS team promotes a targeted audit for benchmarking each year, encouraging healthcare facilities to employ a consistent audit methodology to allow meaningful benchmarking to take place. NAPS is asking healthcare facilities to partake in a survey to understand what Antifungal NAPS users feel is a valuable focus for an antifungal prescribing audit. The findings from this survey will assist in setting a targeted audit methodology for the 2024 and future Antifungal NAPS. 

The Antifungal NAPS benchmarked audit for 2024 will be launched mid-year, please keep an eye out for further details!

FInd the survey here

Visiting Physician: Dr Michelle Balm

We welcomed Dr Michelle Balm, a clinical microbiologist, and infectious diseases physician from New Zealand. Michelle spent one week within the Infectious disease's unit here at Peter Mac to observe clinical practice within the team. We love to host international physicians, strengthening our connection to various colleagues from many places.

We welcomed student Julia Zhevelyuk for her 160- hour placement!

We welcomed Biomedical Science Student Julia Zhevelyuk who completed a 160-hour placement with Peter Mac NCIC team over January/February. She learnt new research skills such as good clinical practice, data management and data collection. We wish her all the best in her future studies.

Please contact us if you are interested in competing your student placement with NCIC by emailing our unit manager directly.

pLEASE CONTACT uNIT MANAGER dR Megan Crane

International Women’s Day 8th of March – How do you inspire inclusivity?

Friday 8th of March marks International Women’s Day. Almost 80% of the NCIC are female identifying. However, it is important to recognise that on average men continue to represent the majority among senior researchers and academic leaders in medical research institutes and hospitals within Australia.

Despite this, we want to highlight how proud we are of our team and their achievements. Our goal is to uplift and celebrate the diversity of all women!

Flick through to read some of perspectives of the team, their thoughts on “How does NCIC inspire inclusion?”

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

January 2024 NCIC Newsletter

February 06, 2024

Dear all,

Welcome to NCIC’s first newsletter of 2024. Join us as we aim for a fantastic year full of research, events and updates about Infections in Cancer within Australia and globally. The beginning of this year will host many exciting events connecting colleagues from across the world.

Upcoming Events

The International Immunocompromised Host society – The 23rd Biennial Symposium

We are very excited to welcome you to the 23rd ICHS Conference in Antalya, Turkey!

Please register your attendance

A limited number of awards will be offered to fellows and early career scientists with accepted abstracts. Those who wish to be considered in this category should select the respective box when submitting an abstract in the abstract submission system. We strongly encourage application for the travel award!

ECCMID 2024

As a part of the executive committee of the Immunocompromised Host Group (ESCICH), I encourage more Australians to join membership. Myself and several other NCIC staff and students (including Dr Michelle Yong, Dr Ben Teh and Dr Victoria Hall) will be presenting alongside our colleagues from all around the world.

As a member you will gain access to upcoming educational activities and surveys of infection in ICH programs and educational needs.

ECCMID has become one of the most comprehensive and influential congresses in the field of infection and an exciting networking place bringing together >16,000 colleagues from all over the world. Share and discuss your research with colleagues from around the world.

Early bird registrations close on the 14th of February 2024!

Please register now to gain access to this 34th ECCMID conference.

The NCIC team looks forward to the 34th ECCMID conference, 27-30th of April 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. The conference will adopt a hybrid style, where if you may not be able to physically attend you can log on virtually from anywhere.

Also meeting at ECCMID will be the ESCMID Study Group for Respiratory viruses (ESGREV).

They are encouraging membership from around the world, so please register now! NCIC Dr Michelle Young was featured in the December ESGREV newsletter, which also has lots of information about Respiratory viruses including IN immune compromised.

CRE RESPOND Workshop: Population pharmacokinetic modelling and dosing software 5 - 7 March 2024.

Join us on the 5-7th of March for the Antimicrobial Optimization Workshop; an intensive three-day course designed to teach population pharmacokinetic modelling.

This event is suitable for health care practitioners involved in complex drug dosing including clinical pharmacists, infectious diseases physicians, intensive care physicians, transplant physicians and clinical pharmacologists. Also suitable for basic researchers including pharmacologists and translational scientists.

Please register by the 26th of Feb, to secure a spot within this highly popular workshop capped at 35 registrations (to work in small groups supported by tutors).

Announcements

Congratulations to Dr Abby Douglas and Gabrielle Haeusler for being awarded NHMRC Investigator grant!

Dr Abby Douglas Project ’Improving outcomes in high-risk cancer patients through rational antimicrobial use

Life threatening infection frequently occurs in patients with low white blood cells following chemotherapy for blood cancer and bone marrow transplants. Antimicrobials are lifesaving, however for over 50 years there has not been a change in the standard procedure to use them at the onset of fever and to continue their use until the white blood cell count has returned to normal. Fever is not always due to infection and prolonged use of antibiotics is associated with poor outcomes like antibiotic-resistant infection. This program will study new cutting-edge diagnostic tests and clinical trials of antibiotic cessation to reduce antibiotic use and improve patient care.

Dr Gabrielle Haeusler Project - Reducing the burden of infection for children with cancer

Dr Haeusler’s research program will explore new ways to detect and monitor complicated infections, assess the safety of shortening antibiotic courses and develop national guidelines for infection management to improve outcomes of childhood cancer.

“My vision is to eliminate the burden of infection in children undergoing cancer treatment,” she said. We will achieve this by using innovative research methods, such as trials into electronic medical records and planning pathways for implementation of results into practice.”

NCIC Unit Meetings

We invite you to join us for our weekly Unit meeting featuring case discussions and research reports from NCIC staff and students.

Takes place every Thursday: 12.30 - 13:30 pm (AEST)

JOIN OUR WEEKLY UNIT MEETING HERE

Interested in joining us? NCIC Visiting fellow program

Dr Pedro Puerta-Alcalde was our visiting ID physician fellow from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona Spain. He is a highly regarded clinician researcher with special interest in fungal and bacterial infections in immune-compromised hosts. He leads a large international multisite study investigating the incidence and risk factors for relapse of Clostridioides difficile infection in cancer patients (CIRCA study) with sites involved in Australia and Spain.

The NCIC visiting fellow program aims to enhance infection management skills for diverse cancers and transplant recipients in a tertiary Centre pioneering new cancer therapies.

The NCIC offers honorary positions for overseas fellows to come and work with the NCIC team, in Melbourne. We welcome you to express your interest by contacting NCIC manager, Dr Megan Crane for more information on any of the honorary positions we have available.

Dr Pedro Puerta-Alcalde

NCIC’s visiting physician fellow from Hosptial Clinic de Barcelona

please contact DR mEGAN cRANE FOR MORE INFORMATION here

Feature Paper

High Rates of Seroprotection and Seroconversion to Vaccine-Preventable Infections in the Early Post-Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Period.

Hall VG, Saunders NR, Klimevski E, Tennakoon GS, Khot A, Harrison S, Worth LJ, Yong MK, Slavin MA, Teh BW.Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Oct 5;10(10):ofad497. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad497. eCollection 2023 Oct.

In patients early post-autologous stem cell transplant, seroprotection rates were high for Hemophilus influenzae type B and tetanus toxoid (70%-90%) but lower for Streptococcus pneumoniae (30%-50%) including after revaccination. There were high rates of seropositivity (67%-86%) to measles, mumps, and rubella and varicella zoster virus. Durability of protection requires assessment.

Recent NCIC Publications

Infections in hematology patients treated with CAR-T therapies: A systematic review and meta- analysis. Reynolds GK, Sim B, Spelman T, Thomas A, Longhitano A, Anderson MA, Thursky K, Slavin M, Teh BW
Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of [18F]FDG-PET/CT for investigation of persistent or recurrent neutropenic fever in high-risk haematology patients. Tew M, Douglas AP, Szer J, Bajel A, Harrison SJ, Tio SY, Worth LJ, Hicks RJ, Ritchie D, Slavin MA, Thursky KA, Dalziel K.
Guidelines for the management of Toxoplasma gondii infection and disease in patients with haematological malignancies and after haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation: guidelines from the 9th European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia, 2022. Aerts R, Mehra V, Groll AH, Martino R, Lagrou K, Robin C, Perruccio K, Blijlevens N, Nucci M, Slavin M, Bretagne S, Cordonnier C; European Conference on Infections in Leukaemia group.
Extended duration of letermovir prophylaxis: how long is long enough? Douglas AP, Slavin MA.
Consensus position statement on advancing the standardised reporting of infection events in immunocompromised patients. Teh BW, Mikulska M, Averbuch D, de la Camara R, Hirsch HH, Akova M, Ostrosky-Zeichner L, Baddley JW, Tan BH, Mularoni A, Subramanian AK, La Hoz RM, Marinelli T, Boan P, Aguado JM, Grossi PA, Maertens J, Mueller NJ, Slavin MA.
Costs associated with invasive Scedosporium and Lomentospora prolificans infections: a case-control study. Neoh CF, Chen SCA, Kong DCM, Hamilton K, Nguyen QA, Spelman T, Tew M, Harvey EL, Ho SA, Saunders NR, Tennakoon S, Crowe A, Marriott D, Trubiano JA, Slavin MA.
Non-viral pathogens of infectious diarrhoea post-allogeneic stem cell transplantation are associated with graft-versus-host disease Rees M, Rivalland A, Tan S, Xie M, Yong MK, Ritchie D.
CMV antiviral stewardship in transplantation - the next frontier Yong, MK.
Annals of Hematology Nov 2023, 103(2) :1-10
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 36(6):495-496

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

December 2023 NCIC Newsletter

December 15, 2023

Dear all,

It is hard to believe that we are approaching the end of 2023! As this will be 2023’s final newsletter, we would like to thank everyone for their valuable work throughout this year. NCIC has been busy in the last couple of months with MDIG’s Forbes Week, Antimicrobial Awareness Events, Mycology Masterclass, and celebrations of achievements, grants, and awards.

NCIC Team 2023

From left, (front) Belinda DePoi, Rachel Woolstencroft, Paul Kinsella, Zoe Neoh, Karin Thursky, Monica Slavin, Victoria Hall, Abby Douglas, Elizabeth Gillespie, (middle) Emily Klimevski, Zahra Alizada, Gemma Reynolds, Paul Lawton, Michelle Yong, Megan Crane, (back) Eve Jelovcan, Jess Demajo, Hayley Page, Ben Teh, Vlada Rozova, Nikhil Singh

Past Events

Forbes Week

4th - 6th December 2023

Forbes Week 2023

International Guest, Prof Evelina Tacconelli presentation at Peter Mac on effective therapy and appropriate therapy are not synonymous in antimicrobial stewardship.

Forbes Week 2023 - Profs Evelina Tacconelli and Karin Thursky

Forbes Week 2023

Drs Michelle Yong and Nick Laundy

The Melbourne Infectious Disease Group (MIDG) Forbes Week is an annual event of a series of talks including a visiting international fellow. The Forbes Fellowship is named after Dr John Forbes who was the longstanding Director of Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Melbourne, and although Fairfield closed some years ago, the Fellowship continues in his honour.

This year's event occurred from the 4th till the 6th of December 2023, hosted by the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Professor Karin Thursky. The event hosted 80 - 100 attendees daily, meeting in person or online. The Forbes dinner was a success with over 55 in attendance at the Arc One Cumulus. It was great to catch up with so many friends and colleagues in Infectious Diseases, Melbourne.

This year’s international guest was Professor Evelina Tacconelli. Evelina is a professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Verona, Italy and Head of the DZIF Clinical Research Unit on healthcare associated infections and antimicrobial resistance at the Tübingen University, Germany. Evelina’s talk was a real triumph and insightful look at MDROs, AMR, AMS and utilising AI and data science. These talks are recorded and are available to listen via the ASID website.

ANZMIG Mycology Masterclass 2023

‘Preventing and treating fungal infections, one course at a time’

NCIC Presenters:
Prof Monica Slavin ‘‘Treatment trials, and unmet needs’ and chairing the session Non-Aspergillus Mould Infections”
Dr Abby Douglas “Antifungal Stewardship”
A/Prof Ben Teh “Prevention of Aspergillosis”
Dr Michelle Yong “Fungal-respiratory Virus Co-infections”

Mycology Masterclass 2023

From left to right, Dr Eunice Liu (Sydney), Dr Matthew Roberts (Adelaide), Dr Emma Price (Darwin), Dr Genevieve Martin (Darwin), Dr Michelle Yong (Melbourne), Dr Ben The (Melbourne), Dr Nick Laundy (Hobart)

Mycology Masterclass 2023

Celebrating 20 years

The Mycology Masterclass celebrated its 20-year anniversary in the first week of November 2023. Professor Monica Slavin was a founding member and has attended all meetings since the beginning. During this masterclass updates in fungal nomenclature, diagnostics, and the WHO fungal priority list is discussed. The class provides an amazing opportunity for colleagues from across the Australia to meet in person.

PhD Spotlight

Project: Preventing Infection in Haematological Malignancy and Bone Marrow Transplantation

Dr Julian Lindsay has been awarded the 2023 Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research. This award recognises outstanding achievements by Graduate Researchers across the Faculty. The prize is awarded to the graduate researchers with the best single authored and best co- authored referred publications.

Julian’s PhD studies encompass strategies to prevent both viral and fungal infections. This has resulted in practice change in Haematopoietic Cell Transplant (HCT) supportive care in the specific areas of invasive fungal prophylaxis, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) management.

Dr Julian Lindsay

***Awarded 2023 MDHS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research***

Julian was also named the chief investigator and lead protocol author on a multicentre $1.5 million Medical Research Future Fund grant awarded in 2023 under the Quality, Safety and Effectiveness of Medicine Use and Medicine Intervention by Pharmacists. This project named, PRAGMATIC (PhaRmAcoGenoMics for better treatment of fungAl infecTions In Cancer), directly arose from Julian’s research and now is an international initiative with multiple collaborators within Australia and the U.S.

Announcements

Peter Mac Foundation Grants $50,000 each to Jasmine and Gemma’s projects!

Project: Surveillance of Immune-Related Colitis using Artificial intelligence (SIRCA)

This funding will be used to support a digital health initiative utilising artificial intelligence for surveillance of immune-related colitis in patients undergoing treatment for solid cancers. Important outputs of this project include a scalable, inter-operable, case-finding digital tool which supports descriptive epidemiology of IR-colitis; description of key events in workflow and turnaround times within the healthcare delivery process for patients with IR-colitis; and reporting of healthcare costs related to management of IR-colitis.

Project: vACCination for hAEmatology patiEnts tReated with cellulAr therapies (ACCELERATE)

Infection prevention during treatment for cancer is a cornerstone of supportive cancer care. Vaccination is an important part of infection prevention, as cancer patients experience a disproportionate burden of vaccine preventable infections. Novel therapies for haematological cancers, including CAR-T and bispecific therapies, may affect how well vaccine-induced antibodies against vaccine-preventable infections are retained after treatment. Her project aims to characterise whether vaccine-associated antibodies persist, or decline, in the early post-treatment phase following CAR-T therapy. It also aims to better understand vaccine response after CAR-T treatment. This project will help contribute to a body of work aiming to improve the timing and optimisation of vaccine delivery after CAR-T therapy.

Congratulations to 2023/2024 NHMRC PhD scholarship recipients!

Dr Paul Kinsella– University of Melbourne

Project: Development and implementation of a shotgun metagenomic based approach for microbiome characterisation

Project description: Advances in medical technology have led to an increase cohort of patients with compromised immune systems who suffer infections with multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs). This study aims to use whole genome sequencing to better understand these resistant pathogens at a genetic level. By monitoring changes in the individual’s microbiome, we aim to not only identify the presence of MDROs, but to also identify opportunities to prevent MDROs from causing invasive infection.

Dr Priya Garg– University of Melbourne

Project: Infection prevention and surveillance in Australian cancer and transplant populations

Project description: Transplant recipients and cancer patients are at a greater risk of infection compared to the general population. Opportunistic and healthcare associated infections (OIs/HAIs) increase the chance of critical illness or death. This project will explore the epidemiology of OIs/HAIs in this cohort through a systematic review, point prevalence study and coordination of expert opinion to inform national control guidelines and create key performance indicators for surveillance and infection control.

Dr Beatrice Sim - University of Melbourne

Project: Harnessing Novel Host Immune Signatures to Improve Risk Stratification and Diagnosis of Viral Infections in Transplant Patient

Project description: Patients who have decreased immune systems due to cancer or transplantation are at higher risk of rare and difficult-to-diagnose viral infections. Because the organisms that cause these infections are difficult to grow in the lab, there is often a delay to diagnosis - this can result in prolonged hospital stays and delay to correct treatment. This PhD aims to identify and diagnose these patients by characterising key immune responses to these infections for quick prediction and treatment.

Belinda Lambros completed the Learning Health Systems Academy Fellowship!

Congratulations to Belinda for successfully completing the Learning Health Systems (LHS) delivered by the Centre for Transformation of Digital Health in 2023!

About the program

The LHS Academy equips Fellows with the knowledge and practical experience to design, implement and evaluate innovative digital change and lead continuous improvement in learning health systems. The program fosters interprofessional and research collaboration and provides experience in learning and working across boundaries to address common problems in digital health, using rigorous metrics and measuring outcomes to improve patient care and health service efficiency.

Belinda’s goal is to utilise her knowledge gained from the 12-month program to help clinical staff recognise early signs and manage patients at risk of sepsis by optimising the sepsis pathway clinical decision support built into Electronic Medical Record (EMR).

NCIC International Collaboration

Dr Galadriel running for the Trainee Association of ESCMID (TAE)

Dr Galadriel Sagastipol is running for candidate within the Trainee Association of ESCMID (TAE). This committee aims to empower trainees and other junior healthcare workers in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology by working together towards a healthier world through networking, education, and international collaborations.

“My goal is to put my efforts towards the improvement of training programs in ID/CM at a time when the specialty of ID is almost ready to be recognised in Spain and help others that are in a similar situation. I hope I can contribute to this wonderful project and hopefully make an impact.” - Galadriel

Farewell to Daphne NCIC’s international visitor from Hong Kong

In November, we said goodbye to Dr Daphne Lau, an Infectious Diseases (ID) Clinician Specialist from Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong.

Daphne joined us as one of the international fellows at the centre in September to pursue her clinical interest in infections in immunocompromised hosts.

At NCIC, she embedded with our clinical teams, attended clinical rounds including in the ICU, transplant and leukemia service, CAR-T cell, medical and surgical oncology. As well as attending and presenting at our regular clinical and journal club meetings, she also attended antimicrobial stewardship team meetings and rounds with the team.

Daphne summarises her time with us as follows: "I have had three wonderful months with you all at Peter Mac and the experience has been extremely valuable.

First international clinical case presentation (Singapore) at NCIC

Another delightful news to share this month is that we hosted our very first international NCIC clinical case from Singapore, presented by Dr James Kang and Dr Jasmine Chung from Singapore General Hospital. They discussed patterns of infections observed at present and intend to gain more clarity with ongoing follow-ups and further trial data down the road. Their engaging presentation led to many insightful discussions from the audience!

Clinical case presentation slides to learn about opportunities infections in bi-specific antibody treatments in Multiple Myeloma.

Clinical case presentation slides

Drs Michelle Yong and Jasmine Chung

Drs meeting up in Taipei, Taiwan to discuss CMV in Kidney Transplant at Asia Pacific Regional Meeting - 25 November 2023

Publications

Shifting landscape of infectious diseases in hematologic malignancies: A hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy special edition

Gabrielle M. Haeusler, Jan Styczynski, Andrea J. Zimmer

First published: 21 November 2023

In this special edition of Transplant Infectious Diseases, a multidisciplinary group of international experts in the fields of haematologic malignancies and infectious diseases were brought together to discuss the latest updates in infection and cellular therapy in patients receiving HCT.

Patients Perspectives

General Approach to Infections in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy ID

Bacterial Infections

Viral Infections

Fungal Infections

Upcoming Events

ICHS 23rd Biennial Symposium - Calling for abstract submissions NOW!

The international Immunocompromised Host Society (ICHS) 23rd Biennial Symposium will be held in Antalya Turkiye 04 to 07 April, 2024. ICHS abstract submissions are still open. The deadline for the online abstract submission is December 20, 2023.

By submitting an abstract you will have the chance to contribute and be recognised for all your work.

Kind regards,

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation

October 2023 NCICT Newsletter

November 01, 2023

Dear all,

October seemed to fly by! This month, we hosted the NCIC Symposium and Workshop – “Pathways to better infection care in cancer”.

I would like to take an opportunity to thank our guest speakers, Prof Melissa Baysari from University of Sydney, Dr Ashley Ng from Department of Health Services Research PMCC, and Dr Lisa Guccione from Department of Health Services of Research and Implementation Science PMCC, for sharing their valuable insights. And many thanks to the NCIC team for collaborating so seamless over the past few weeks to make this workshop a success!

**Dr Dan Yeoh PhD Completion Seminar**

On another positive note, I would like to congratulate Dr Dan Yeoh on completing his PhD in Invasive fungal Disease in children with cancer: Improving diagnosis, optimising antifungal prescribing, and exploring prospective surveillance.

**Farewell Dr Galadriel Pellejero from Spain**

Last week marked the end of Dr Galadriel Pellejero visiting fellowship with NCIC. During her fellowship, Galadriel attended clinical ward rounds at PMCC and RMH as well as outpatients and ICU. She gave a talk about AMS practices including development of an app to the NCAS group and was involved with project work and a project proposal with definitions around BK viremia and disease in the allo-HSCT population. We hope to continue the collaboration including catch-up in Barcelona at ECCMID 2024.

Other upcoming events

ANZMIG Mycology Masterclass 2023

2nd - 4th November 2023

‘Preventing and treating fungal infections, one course at a time’

PROGRAM DETAILS HERE

Antibiotics Awareness Week 2023 (AAWS)

led by Prof Karin Thursky

Thursday 23rd November 2023
4pm to 7pm
Level 7, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

NCIC Presenters:
A/Prof Gabrielle Haeusler, Prof Jason Trubiano, Dr Olivia Smibert

National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS)

led by Prof Karin Thursky

A hybrid event celebrating the many successes of the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS) as the program turns TEN in 2023.

Friday 24th November 2023
2pm to 5pm
Charles LaTrobe Theatre, Royal Melbourne Hospital

Learning Health System (LHS) Academy Symposium

Come along to the LHS Academy Symposium to hear of the latest LHS projects led by our 2023 Academy Fellows.

Our very own Belinda Lambros will be presenting in a panel discussion.

Wednesday 29th November 2023
3:30pm to 7:00pm
Forum 1 & 2, Melbourne Connect, 700 Swanson Street (hybrid event)

PhD Spotlight

**Dr Victoria Hall**

Infectious Diseases Physician,
PhD Candidate, NCIC

Victoria is an Infectious Diseases physician and second year PhD student at the NCIC, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (PMCC). She completed her Infectious Diseases training in Melbourne at the Austin and Alfred Hospitals in 2020.

To further her clinical and research experience, she undertook a Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the University Health Network, through University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, from mid 2020 – end of 2021. During the COVID-19 pandemic, supervised by leaders in the field including Professors Deepali Kumar and Atul Humar, she led work studying COVID-19 infection and vaccine immune response in solid organ transplant recipients. This included a practice changing randomised control trial of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, leading to FDA and then international approval for all immunocompromised patients.

This has inspired her current NHMRC-supported translational PhD, examining burden and host immune response of respiratory virus infection in patients with haematological malignancy, supervised by Professor Monica Slavin, A/Prof Benjamin Teh, Dr Michelle Yong and Professor Katherine Kedzierska. As part of her PhD, she has been successful in securing research support funding as a co-investigator from a PMCC Foundation grant, professional development support from the Rosie Lew PMCC Foundation Postgraduate award and as principal investigator from the Government of Victoria, Victorian COVID-19 Vaccinees Collection (VC2) COVID-19 Research seed funding. In addition, she was recognised by the Transplant Infectious Diseases (TID) journal as an inaugural recipient of the Dr Francisco Marty TID Journal Editorial Fellowship for 2023. She has presented her work in oral abstract form at ECCMID 2023, American Transplant Congress 2022 and successfully published seven first author publications in internationally recognised, peer reviewed Infectious Diseases and Haematology journals.

She looks forward to her upcoming third year of PhD, with further research work expected including assessment of influenza vaccination strategies and current epidemiology of respiratory viruses in patients with haematological malignancy.

Feature Paper

Invasive Aspergillosis in adult patients in Australia and New Zealand: 2017–2020

Tio SY, Chen SC, Hamilton K, Heath CH, Pradhan A, Morris AJ, Korman TM, Morrissey O, Halliday CL, Kidd S, Spelman T, Brell N, McMullan B, Clark JE, Mitsakos K, Hardiman RP, Williams P, Campbell AJ, Beardsley J, Van Hal S, Yong MK, Worth LJ, Slavin MA.

“This is one of the largest, multicenter in-depth clinical-epidemiologic evaluation of adult invasive aspergillosis (IA) cases in the Southern Hemisphere, with 221 proven and probable IA cases from ten healthcare institutions in Australia and New Zealand. Salient findings as follows: a) 12% of patints who developed IA were with mild or no immunosuppression; b) neutropenia was less common in this cohort and itself was not associated with mortality; c) with 6.5% azole-resistance rate amongst 46 tested A. fumigatus isolates. Therefore it is important to be aware of IA in patients without traditional host factors, and to perform accurate identification of Aspergillus species with susceptibility testing to guide management.” - Dr Shio Yen Tio

“Congratulations Shio Yen on completing this large multi-centre study! With data from 10 hospitals to co-ordinate and clean it was a big task but an important part of your PhD. Thanks also go to Prof Sharon Chen, Kate Hamilton for helping oversee the study and ANZMIG for support.” - Prof Monica Slavin

Recent publications

High Rates of Seroprotection and Seroconversion to Vaccine-Preventable Infections in the Early Post-Autologous Stem Cell Transplant Period. Hall et al

CMV prevention strategies in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation; the role of prophylaxis and pre-emptive monitoring in the era of letermovir. Yong et al

A protocol for an international, multicentre pharmacokinetic study for Screening Antifungal Exposure in Intensive Care Units: The SAFE-ICU study. Roberts et al

Kind regards

Prof Monica Slavin, MBBS, MD, FRACP, FAAHMS
Head, Department Infectious Disease, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Professor of Infection in Cancer and Transplantation, University of Melbourne Department of Infectious Diseases and the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology

Director, National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation