Prof. John Turnidge AO 

Professor Turnidge graduated in medicine from Sydney University and subsequently trained in infectious diseases and microbiology at Flinders Medical Centre. After a period as Head of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, he returned to the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide to a similar position. Subsequently, he became Director of the Division of Laboratory Medicine at the same institution. He has a long-standing interest in antimicrobial prescribing and antimicrobial resistance, and has contributed nationally in these areas to government, international organisations and learned societies, including the NHMRC, the WHO, the US-based Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and the Therapeutic Guidelines-Antibiotic writing group. 

He co-founded the Australian Society for Antimicrobials, which now has over 800 members. He retains expertise in diagnostic microbiology and infectious diseases clinical work, and his advice is sought on all aspects of antimicrobials from laboratory testing to development and appropriate use. He is a clinical advisor to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care and he assisted in the development and implementation of the first comprehensive national surveillance system for antimicrobial use and resistance in Australia. From January 2017, he has taken on the role of Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. 

Morgyn Warner 

Morgyn Warner is Clinical Director of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at SA Pathology and an infectious diseases physician at the Royal Adelaide and The Queen Elizabeth hospitals in South Australia. She is the chair of the South Australian expert Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (SAGAAR) and a member and past chair of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Advisory Committee. Her clinical interests are in antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship and infections in immunosuppressed hosts.Her research interests include optimisation of dosing of antimicrobials, applications of bacteriophage therapy, antimicrobial stewardship, and the human and environmental microbiome in relation to multiresistant bacteria transmission and infection. 

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care

The Commission’s role is to lead and coordinate national improvements in the safety and quality of health care. The Commission works in partnership with the Australian Government, state and territory governments and the private sector to achieve a safe, high-quality and sustainable health system. In doing so, the Commission also works closely with patients, carers, clinicians, managers, policymakers and healthcare organisations. 

Key functions of the Commission include developing national safety and quality standards, developing clinical care standards to improve the implementation of evidence-based health care, coordinating work in specific areas to improve outcomes for patients, and providing information, publications and resources about safety and quality.