Dear All,
Welcome to our August NCIC newsletter!
It has been another busy month, with plenty to celebrate: from welcoming international colleagues and sharing new research, to recognising the achievements and milestones of our NCIC community. It has also been wonderful to see new connections being made with the next generation of clinician-researchers. Thank you, as always, for your continued contribution and support of NCIC, and I hope you enjoy this month's updates!
A Visit from Prof Lars Westblade
We had the pleasure of welcoming Prof Lars Westblade, Medical Director of Clinical Microbiology at NewYork-Presbyterian and Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine. Lars joined us for an engaging presentation on the Burden of Infectious Diseases in Patients with Cancer, sharing insights from his work spanning the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
Prof Lars Westblade and the NCIC Team
It was a wonderful opportunity for the NCIC team to connect, exchange ideas and hear an international perspective on an area so closely aligned with our work. A big thank you to Lars for taking the time to visit and connect with us here in the land down under!
Awards and achievements
2026 Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Research
2026 Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Research
A big congratulations to Dr Gemma Reynolds, who has been awarded the 2026 Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Research and will receive her award on 7th October.
The award recognises outstanding achievements by MDHS graduate researchers across clinical and discovery research. A fantastic achievement and well-deserved recognition of Gemma's research – congratulations from all of us at NCIC!
Celebrating Our Long-Service Milestones
This month, we are also celebrating some very special milestones for Prof Karin Thursky, Marcelle Stewart and Dr Abby Douglas, recognising their many years of contribution to Peter Mac.
Prof Karin Thursky celebrating 25 years with PeterMac
(Photo credit: Peter Mac Communications)
Marcelle Stewart and colleagues, Michelle Wilkins and Rebecca Keane
(Photo credit: Peter Mac Communications)
Prof Karin Thursky – 25 years
An incredible 25 years at Peter Mac for Kas (Karin)! Over the years, Kas has contributed across so many areas – from infectious diseases and cancer care to research, antimicrobial stewardship, digital health and implementation science. Her work and leadership have had an impact well beyond Peter Mac, helping to shape practice nationally and internationally. A fantastic milestone and an amazing contribution to celebrate!
Marcelle Stewart – 10 years
Marcelle has brought a wealth of nursing experience to Peter Mac and is now a familiar face across our Infectious Diseases Clinical Trials team. Before joining NCIC, she worked as a day surgery nurse in the surgical unit, bringing valuable clinical experience into her research role. Today, she plays a key role in keeping our trials running – from patient recruitment and clinical care to coordinating commercial and investigator-led studies, ethics and governance. Outside of NCIC, Marcelle also works with the Tobacco Treatment Clinic at Peter Mac, supporting patients on their quit journey with around 500 quit encounters this year alone. Thank you Marcelle for everything you bring to the team!
Dr Abby Douglas – 10 years
It’s also 10 years at Peter Mac for Abby! Over the years, Abby has built her career as an infectious diseases clinician-researcher, with a passion for improving the diagnosis and management of infections in immunocompromised patients. She completed her PhD through NCIC in 2023, with her research recognised with the 2022 Peter Mac Medal. We’re lucky to have Abby as part of NCIC and look forward to seeing what the next 10 years bring!
A big thank you to Kas, Marcelle and Abby for everything they have contributed over the years – and congratulations on these fantastic milestones!
Peter Mac Clinical and Health Services Research Student Open Evening
Photo credit: A/Prof Erika Cretney
The inaugural Peter Mac Clinical and Health Services Research Student Open Evening brought together prospective students, supervisors and clinician-researchers for an evening of networking and conversations about research pathways at Peter Mac.
It was great to see Nikhil Singh representing NCIC as part of the Q&A panel, joining past and present clinician-researchers Julia Lai-Kwon, Wanda Cui, Olivia Braniff and Hayley Beer to share their experiences and insights with prospective students.
A big thank you to the organisers for putting together a fantastic evening and creating an opportunity for the next generation of researchers to connect and learn more about research at Peter Mac.
Upcoming: Clinician-Researcher PhD Information Session
Join us for an upcoming online session connecting clinician-researchers and future PhD candidates.
We’ve invited past NCIC speakers to share their experiences, research journeys and different pathways into doctoral study, with plenty of opportunity to hear first-hand what undertaking a PhD can look like as a clinician.
Thursday, 8 October 2026 | 6:30 pm AEDT
Online via Microsoft Teams | 1 hour
We’d love to see you there!
Upcoming conferences
Keep an eye out for NCIC colleagues attending and presenting at these upcoming meetings!
International Congress of BMT (ICBMT) 2026 📍 Busan, South Korea | 17–19 September 2026
The Transplantation Society (TTS) 2026 📍 Sydney, Australia | 20–23 September 2026
Publication Highlight: Editor's Choice
Our multicentre study on non-Aspergillus mould infections has been published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases and selected as an Editor's Choice paper! Led by Dr Zoe Neoh and Prof Monica Slavin, the study brings together data from centres across Australia and New Zealand to examine the management and outcomes of these rare but serious fungal infections, as well as factors associated with mortality and treatment failure.
Check out the visual abstract below for the key findings!
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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