AGAR UPDATE

2:00pm - 3:00pm AEDT | Thursday, 6th October 2022

View Session Recording

Speaker | Prof. Geoffrey Coombs - Murdoch University

After obtaining his Bachelor of Applied Science (Medical Science) at Curtin University, Geoff Coombs worked as a Medical Scientist in medical microbiology at King Edward MemorialHospital for Women and then at Royal Perth Hospital, where he became the Principal Scientist in the Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.In addition to being the Chair of Public Health and a Fellow of the Centre for Biosecurity and One Health at Murdoch University, he is also the Senior Clinical Scientist (Research andTeaching) for the Department of Microbiology, Fiona Stanley Hospital, PathWest Laboratory Medicine – WA.His current professional appointments include President of the Australian Society for Antimicrobials, Chair of the Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance, and President-Elect forthe International Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Speaker | Denise Daley, MASM - Fiona Stanley Hospital

Denise has more than 40 years of experience in medical microbiology in NSW and WA, and currently works for PathWest Laboratory Medicine – WA at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth. Denise has been the Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) Scientific Officer since 2011. She manages the activities of AGAR and coordinates the Australian Staphylococcus aureus Surveillance (Blood-stream infections) Program (ASSOP) and Australian Enterococcus species Surveillance (Blood-stream infections) Program (AESOP). She is responsible for coordinating the AGAR Executive and Committee meetings. 

Denise is the secretary for the Australian Society for Antimicrobials (ASA) and is involved in many international antimicrobial resistance surveillance programs including SENTRY- https://www.jmilabs.com/sentry-surveillance-program , SMART (Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends) http://www.globalsmartsite.com and the Astra Zeneca Global Surveillance Study.

Speaker | Dr. Shakeel Mowlaboccus - Murdoch University

Dr Shakeel Mowlaboccus (Shaxx) is an early career researcher with expertise in whole genome sequencing, bioinformatics analysis, microbial genetics, molecular cloning and small-scale protein expression. He completed his PhD at the University of Western Australia in 2018. Shaxx specialises in understanding the molecular epidemiology and evolution of drug-resistant bacterial pathogens through state-of-the-art genomics.

Speaker | Prof. Jonathan Iredell - The University of Sydney

Jon Iredell is a physician and Microbiologist based at Westmead Hospital and the University of Sydney. He is a recent past president of the Australian Society of Microbiology and currently chairs the Gram-negative antimicrobial surveillance committee for AGAR. His work into sepsis and antimicrobial resistance has been continuously funded by the NHMRC since 2006, and his main current interests are in the recognition and proactive management of risk from infection in the critically ill.

Speaker | Jan Bell - Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care 

Chair | Dr. Louise Cooley - Royal Hobart Hospital

Dr Louise Cooley is an infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist, and Director of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania. She is a member of the AGAR Executive Committee, Australian Society for Antimicrobials committee and ASID ICHSIG. Tasmanian representative on the Public Health Laboratory Network and Communicable Diseases Genomics Network, a member of the National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC) and FluCAN research groups. Her clinical and research interests include antimicrobial resistance and surveillance, application of microbial genomics for public health and infection control , epidemiology of influenza, epidemiology and management infections in immunocompromised hosts, and antifungal stewardship in high risk patient groups.