Dear all,
For this month’s newsletter I am pleased to feature our newly promoted General Manager, Infectious Diseases, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre- Dr Megan Crane PhD, MIDI. Megan began with us in 2017 as the Research Manager for the newly awarded NCIC Centre for Research Excellence with 10 years’ experience as a laboratory Post Doc in Immunology. Over her last 6 years as Research Manager, she has been instrumental in developing and implementing the strategic, operational and business plans of the department, growing the department from 10 people with an annual operating budget of $500,000 to a multidisciplinary clinical research team of 36 with an annual budget of $2 million. During this time Megan also completed a Masters of Infectious Disease Intelligence (UNSW). I am extremely pleased to have supported Megan in her promotion to General Manager of ID at Peter Mac, a well deserved reflection of her hard work and commitment to world’s best cancer care.
Congratulations Megan, we look forward to continued growth and development of the National Centre for Infections in Cancer and Transplantation.
Congratulations also to Drs Shio Yen Tio and Beatrice Sim on being successful recipients of an Abstract and Travel Stipend Award - 4th Symposium on Infectious Diseases in the Immunocompromised Host, to present their work at Fred Hutch, Seattle in May this year. Drs Sim and Tio and other NCICT researchers will be attending to share experience and build collaborations with the international transplant infectious diseases community. We are also looking forward to seeing many of our ID colleagues at ASID 2023 this weekend and will have 3 abstracts presented by our research team.
We also have 7 abstracts to be presented at ECCMID and I will be giving a keynote lecture on Frontiers in Infection in the ICH. Well done to the team for having abstracts accepted at these 3 important meetings.
Seminars and Journal Club
NCICT Journal Club
Monthly, Fridays 12 pm
The second of the 2023 monthly NCICT Journal Club series is this Friday March 31st 12-1pm with Dr. Gemma Reynolds (paper) and Dr. Pedro Puerta (Fungal Infection in ICH) .Sign up for a live link to the NCIC Journal Club series HERE.
You can now view the recording of Prof Graeme Forrest who gave a fantastic presentation at the NCICT Seminar Series on AMS in TID HERE
The Straight and Marrow Podcast
Dr Michelle Yong (guest episode 13), an infectious diseases expert, answers all of our questions about infectious diseases in bone marrow transplant patients. We discuss neutrophils, cytomegalovirus, preventative measures and discuss what is the real “F” word in transplantation.
Publication highlight
Robust SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses with common TCRαβ motifs towards COVID-19 vaccines in haematological malignancy patients impacting B cell immunity
Thi H O Nguyen, Louise C Rowntree, Lilith F Allen, Brendon Y Chua, Lukasz Kedzierski, Chhay Lim, Masa Lasica, G Surekha Tennakoon, Natalie R Saunders, Megan Crane, Lynette Chee, John F Seymour, Mary Ann Anderson, Ashley Whitechurch, E Bridie Clemens, Wuji Zhang, So Young Chang, Jennifer R Habel, Xiaoxiao Jia, Hayley A McQuilten, Anastasia A Minervina, Mikhail V Pogorelyy, Priyanka Chaurasia, Jan Petersen, Tejas Menon, Luca Hensen, Jessica Neil, Francesca L Mordant, Hyon-Xhi Tan, Aira F Cabug, Adam K Wheatley, Stephen J Kent, Kanta Subbarao, Theo Karapanagiotidis, Han Huang, Lynn K Vo, Natalie L Cain, Suellen Nicholson, Florian Krammer, Grace Gibney, Fiona James, Janine M Trevillyan, Jason A Trubiano, Jeni Mitchell, Britt Christensen, Katherine A Bond, Deborah A Williamson, Jamie Rossjohn, Jeremy Chase Crawford, Paul G Thomas, Karin A Thursky, Monica A Slavin, Constantine S Tam, Benjamin W Teh, Katherine Kedzierska
Published in Cell Reports Medicine (preprints), led by University of Melbourne Professor Katherine Kedzierska (Doherty Institute), in collaboration with Associate Professor Benjamin Teh, Professor Monica Slavin, Surekha Tennakoon, Natalie Suanders, Dr Megan Crane and Professor Jason Trubiano (NCICT).
Despite being heavily immunocompromised, haematology patients generate strong cellular immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 after vaccination, on par with that of healthy individuals. The research team undertook the most comprehensive analysis of adaptive SARS-CoV-2 immunity to date in haematology patients of varying diseases and treatments across three doses of COVID-19 vaccination in comparison to healthy individuals.
Professor Kedzierska says that the study provides key insights for future immunisation strategies with vaccines such as influenza which predominantly induce B cell immune responses.
“What we have shown is that people with co-morbidities that have a heavily impacted B cell immune arm, can have an mRNA vaccine to elicit T cells and give them that extra level of protection,” Professor Kedzierska says
Associate Professor Teh says this research is important for clinicians working with blood cancer patients.
“Clinicians can be confident that it is safe and beneficial for their patients, who are heavily immunocompromised and vulnerable to severe COVID-19 infection, to receive vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. Regardless of their diseases and treatments, COVID-19 vaccination generates strong T cell immunity in this group,” Associate Professor Teh says.
Recent Publications
Survey of treatment practices for immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 in Australasia.
Moso MA, Sasadeusz J, Morrissey CO, Bond K, Guy S, Slavin MA, Dendle C.Intern Med J. 2023 Mar 17. doi: 10.1111/imj.16064. Online ahead of print.PMID: 36929677
Invasive aspergillosis in liver transplant recipients.
Melenotte C, Aimanianda V, Slavin M, Aguado JM, Armstrong-James D, Chen YC, Husain S, Van Delden C, Saliba F, Lefort A, Botterel F, Lortholary O.Transpl Infect Dis. 2023 Mar 16:e14049. doi: 10.1111/tid.14049. Online ahead of print.PMID: 36929539 Review.
Infectious complications of bispecific antibody therapy in patients with multiple myeloma.
Sim BZ, Longhitano A, Er J, Harrison SJ, Slavin MA, Teh BW.Blood Cancer J. 2023 Mar 10;13(1):34. doi: 10.1038/s41408-023-00808-8.PMID: 36894539 Free PMC article. No abstract available
View all NCICT publications 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