December 2023 NCIC Newsletter

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

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”

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!

Dr Jasmine Teng

PI: Prof Leon Worth

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. 

 

Dr Gemma Reynolds

PI: Prof Ben Teh

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.

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

  1. When a fungal infection is worse than a leukemia diagnosis.
    Julie-Ann Attard,  Madeleine Attard

  2. Infection - Dealing with the inevitable
    Rebecca Long

  3. Infections are No Holiday
    Julie-Ann Attard,  Madeleine Attard

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

  1. Expanding the scope of the infectious diseases pharmacist in HCT: Beyond antimicrobial stewardship
    Heather Weerdenburg,  Julian Lindsay

  2. Updates in hematopoietic cell transplant and cellular therapies that enhance the risk for opportunistic infections
    Geoffrey D. E. Cuvelier,  Kristjan Paulson,  Eric J. Bow

  3. The shifting roles and toxicities of cellular therapies in B-cell malignancies
    Olivia L. Makos,  Christopher R. D'Angelo

  4. Infectious complications of car T-cell therapy: A longitudinal risk model
    Michael T. Czapka,  Peter A. Riedell,  Jennifer C. Pisano

Bacterial Infections

  1. Global impact of antibacterial resistance in patients with hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.
    Lee S. Gottesdiener,  Michael J. Satlin

  2. Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections in patients with hematologic malignancies and recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
    Julie-Ann Attard,  Madeleine Attard

Viral Infections

  1. Adenovirus infection in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
    Simone Cesaro

  2. Letermovir for pre-emptive cytomegalovirus therapy after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
    Raena Kaur,  Duncan Purtill,  Julian Cooney,  Paul Cannell,  Matthew Wright,  Tandy-Sue Copeland,  Matthew McGuire,  Peter Boan

  3. CMV prevention strategies in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation; the role of prophylaxis and pre-emptive monitoring in the era of letermovir
    Michelle K. Yong,  Monica A. Slavin,  Roy F. Chemaly,  Genovefa A. Papanicolaou

  4. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the noncytomegalovirus herpesviruses
    Vanessa R. Wormser,  Nelson Iván Agudelo Higuita,  Ramya Ramaswami,  Dante P. Melendez

  5. Respiratory virus infections after allogeneic stem cell transplantation: Current understanding, knowledge gaps, and recent advances
    Jose L. Piñana,  Ariadna Pérez,  Pedro Chorão,  Manuel Guerreiro,  Irene García-Cadenas,  Carlos Solano,  Rodrigo Martino,  David Navarro,  the Infectious Complications Subcommittee of the Spanish Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapy Group (GETH-TC)

  6. COVID-19 after hematopoietic cell transplantation and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy
    Eleftheria Kampouri,  Joshua A. Hill,  Veronica Dioverti

Fungal Infections

  1. Breakthrough invasive fungal infections on isavuconazole prophylaxis in hematologic malignancy & hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients
    Akshay M. Khatri,  Yoichiro Natori,  Anthony Anderson,  Ra'ed Jabr,  Shreya A. Shah,  Akina Natori,  Namrata S. Chandhok,  Krishna Komanduri,  Michele I. Morris,  Jose F. Camargo,  Mohammed Raja

  2. Approach to diagnostic evaluation and prevention of invasive fungal disease in patients prior to allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant
    Jessica C. O'Keeffe,  Nikhil Singh,  Monica A. Slavin

  3. Challenges in management of invasive fungal infections in stem cell transplant
    Jeremey Walker,  W. Seth Edwards,  Nicole M. Hall,  Peter G. Pappas

Other key topics

  1. Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in a zoo of multidrug-resistant organisms: Data from a cancer center in eastern India
    Shouriyo Ghosh,  Sanjay Bhattacharya,  Gaurav Goel,  Rasika Avinash Deshmukh,  Rizwan Javed,  Mita Roychowdhury,  Subir Sinha,  Maitrayee Sarkar De,  Arijit Nag,  Jeevan Kumar,  Saurabh Jayant Bhave,  Reena Nair,  Mammen Chandy

  2. Parasitic infections in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
    Emaan Haque,  Ibrahim N. Muhsen,  Walid Rasheed,  Riad El Fakih,  Mahmoud Aljurf

  3. Vaccine schedule recommendations and updates for patients with hematologic malignancy post-hematopoietic cell transplant or CAR T-cell therapy
    Gemma Reynolds,  Victoria G. Hall,  Benjamin W. Teh

  4. Vaccinations in children with hematologic malignancies and those receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants or cellular therapies
    Kari A Neemann,  Alice I Sato

  5. Antimicrobials in patients with hematologic malignancies and recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation and other cellular therapies
    Frank Tverdek,  Zahra Kassamali Escobar,  Catherine Liu,  Rupali Jain,  Julian Lindsay

  6. Infectious complications among CD19 CAR-T cell therapy recipients: A single-center experience
    Bryan Walker,  Andrea J. Zimmer,  Erica J. Stohs,  Matthew Lunning,  Elizabeth Lyden,  Anum Abbas

  7. Infections after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy for hematologic malignancies
    Eleftheria Kampouri,  Jessica S. Little,  Kai Rejeski,  Oriol Manuel,  Sarah P. Hammond,  Joshua A. Hill

  8. Investigational non-antibiotic therapeutics for infections in hematopoietic cell transplant recipients and patients with hematologic malignancies receiving cellular therapies
    Will Garner,  Amjad Hamza,  Ghady Haidar

  9. Clostridioides difficile infection in the allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipient
    Davide Lo Porto,  Alessandra Mularoni,  Elio Castagnola,  Carolina Saffioti

  10. How I approach diarrhea in hematological transplant patients: A practical tool
    Natalia E. Castillo Almeida,  Catherine J. Cichon,  Carlos A. Gomez

  11. Evaluation of pulmonary abnormalities in recipients of hematopoietic cell transplants and cellular therapies
    Lora Thomas,  Julie Boatman

  12. Fluoroquinolone prophylaxis in patients with neutropenia at high risk of serious infections: Exploring pros and cons
    Nikhil Singh,  Karin Thursky,  Gabriela Maron,  Joshua Wolf

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