Dear all,
This year has been another highly productive one for our team and our wonderful collaborators.
I want to congratulate everyone on their achievements and contribution to progressing our research vision of preventing and better treating infections in people with cancer. Everyone’s work is very important and much valued in working towards this goal.
With the award of a new CRE we will be looking to expand our team in 2025 with new PhD candidates and a clinical research fellow, see link here.
Hoping you all have some rest and opportunity to spend time with loved ones over the holiday period and look forward to another bumper year in 2025.
2025 Opportunities
Job opportunity- NCIC Research Fellow
The National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC) Clinical Research Fellow will provide high quality oversight and care for patients enrolled in infection clinical trials, assist in developing studies and study conduct including protocol development, sponsorship and ethics applications, determining eligibility, screening, consenting, enrolment, co-ordinating and conducting study visits, and capturing adverse events. The fellow will perform data collection, manuscript writing and participate in Infectious diseases unit education and team meetings and will participate in education and research in the field of infectious diseases.
Education opportunites
Visiting Fellow Program
This year, we hosted many visiting fellows from various global locations, Italy, Spain, Singapore and many more. It was a successful year in promoting collaboration and education, all aimed at improving outcomes for immunocompromised patients. This program focuses on enhancing infection management skills for diverse cancers and immunocompromised hosts within a tertiary centre that is pioneering new cancer therapies.
PhD Projects
Next year, the NCIC will offer several PhD opportunities. As Australia’s leading centre for infections in cancer, we aim to provide students with the chance to complete their PhD with us. This is a great opportunity to work on projects in a rapidly growing field, where new cancer therapies are being developed. As survival rates improve, the epidemiology of infections in immunocompromised patients continues to evolve, creating a need for better diagnostics and treatments.
2024 NCIC Symposium
Two weeks ago, the NCIC hosted its annual symposium, focused on the theme “Tackling Fungal Infections: Novel Immune & Diagnostic Approaches.”
Thank you to all our speakers and participants for making this symposium such a success.
The 2024 NCIC Annual Symposium recording
To view the recording at your convenience, please find the video below and also on our YouTube channel.
Feature Paper
The study highlights limitations in the EORTC/MSGERC criteria for diagnosing invasive aspergillosis (IA), particularly regarding host factors and repeat molecular testing. These criteria require clear host risk factors and repeated positive molecular or microbiological findings to classify a case as "proven" or "probable" IA. However, the study shows that patients who do not meet these criteria still experience high mortality rates, indicating the need to reconsider how these factors are applied in clinical practice.
NCIC 2024 Publications
This year NCIC has been busy, they have authored and co-authored a suite of clinical publications on the treatment and management of a range of infections in the Immunocompromised Host. To read all NCIC publications please find the link to our website here.
Some of the highlights include:
In 2024 the NCIC Welcomed
The NCIC is thrilled to welcome new staff members and various visitors throughout 2024. We are proud to have such a dedicated and skilled workforce, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration and growing with our team into 2025. At the NCIC, our goal is to foster teamwork and enhance infection management skills for individuals with diverse cancers and transplant recipients. Additionally, we offer honorary positions for overseas fellows to join and work alongside our NCIC team. Learn more about our visting fellow program here.
Evona Fung and Sapna Dhunlall
Evona is our AMS- Clinical Nurse Specialist and Sapna our clinical trials administration assistant
Jia Hiu, Zenina Andrews, Violet Zhu
Jia Hiu is Infectious Diseases visiting fellow, Zenina is the infectious diseases research assistant, Violet is the antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist
Beatrice Miani
Infectious Diseases International visiting research fellow
Dr Ian Lim
Infectious diseases consultant, international short-term fellowship
Daphne
nfectious Diseases International visiting fellow
Priya Garg
Infectious Diseases clinician and PhD student.
Julia Zhevelyuk
Visiting Biomed student
Galadriel
Infectious Diseases International visiting fellow
Michelle Balm
Visiting Infectious Diseases clinician from New Zealand
Dr Alice Liu
Infectious Diseases Registrar
2024 Awards and Achievements
Dr Abby Douglas
Peter Mac Lea Award and the ICHS best poster award
A/Prof Michelle Yong
Appointed Associated Proffessor, ICHS 2030 Melbourne President and Board director of the ictorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium
Dr Victoria Hall
University of Melbourne 2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research and a highly competitive international Moderna Fellowship award
Dr Morgan Rose
Phd Completion
Dr Julian Lindsay
One of three finalists for the HSR category of the 2024 Vicotria Premieers award for science.
Prof. Monica Slavin
Royal Melbourne Hosptial Research Hall of Fame and the Melbourne Medical School Brownless medal
Grants in 2024
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.
ANZMIG and Pfizer research grants 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. Zoe was also successful with a Pfizer project grant to evaluate isavuconazole use in Australia.
Dr Abby Douglas Project ’Improving outcomes in high-risk cancer patients through rational antimicrobial use
This program will study new cutting-edge diagnostic tests and clinical trials of antibiotic cessation to reduce antibiotic use and improve patient care successfully funded through an NHMRC investigator grant.
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. Successfully funded through an NHMRC investigator grant VCCC alliance and Tour de Cure foundation.
Upcoming events
ICHS Webinar: Controversies in the Vaccination of Immunocompromised Patients
Australian Society for Antimicrobials 24th Annual Scientific Meeting 2025
The 2025 Howard Florey Oration will be delivered by Karin Thursky from The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The programme's symposia cover many different aspects of antimicrobials and sessions including:
Complex AMR Infections in Vulnerable Populations
Mycobacteria
Mycology
Post COVID: Ongoing Public Health Challenges
Gram-negative Bacteria
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline Friday 13 December 2024 11:59 PM AEDT
Abstract Notification Deadline Friday 3 January 2025
Early Bird Registration DeadlineFriday 10 January 2025 11:59 PM AEDT
Fred Hutch Symposium on Infectious Diseases in Immunocompromised Host
Please join us on May 11 – 14, 2025, in Seattle, Washington, for the 5th Symposium on Infectious Diseases in the Immunocompromised Host. Mark your calendar for an expanded two and a half-day program that brings together leaders and trainees in research and clinical care of infectious diseases in the immunocompromised host.
The NCIC is on BlueSky now!
We are excited to share that the NCIC will be transitioning to BlueSky.
Make sure to follow us on BlueSky and stay tuned for more developments as we settle into this new space and don’t forget, you can always stay connected with the team and community on LinkedIn for the latest updates and news.
We look forward to connecting with you on both LinkedIn and BlueSky.
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