Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference 2026

Associate Director and Head Population Health Group, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance | School of Population Health UNSW | Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney

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​Stephen Lambert is a public health physician with experience in communicable disease control and immunisation research. He works for Queensland Health and the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. Stephen is passionate about disease prevention using vaccines.

Dr. Tarun Weeramanthri is a specialist physician in both public health and internal medicine. He chairs the Board of Rare Voices Australia and was President of PHAA from 2020-2024. He is currently also Deputy Chair of PathWest and a board member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. He is the only person to have been appointed Chief Health Officer in three Australian jurisdictions (in the Northern Territory from 2004-2007, in Western Australia from 2008-2018, and most recently in Victoria in 2025). He has deep experience in policy across both communicable and non-communicable diseases, as well as regulation, overseeing the introduction of the landmark WA Public Health Act 2016. In 2014, he was awarded the Sidney Sax Medal by PHAA for his contribution to public health in Australia, and in 2022 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for service to public health administration.

Public Health Physician, South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit

Professor and Centre Head: Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, The Kids Research Institute Australia, and University of Western Australia

Chris Blyth is an infectious disease physician and clinical microbiologist working at Perth Children’s Hospital and for PathWest Laboratory Medicine.

He has research interests in influenza, RSV, pneumococcus, other vaccine preventable infections and immunisation policy.

He has served on peak advisory committees including the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) and Communicable Disease Network of Australia (CDNA)

Epidemiology Lead, Epidemiology Informatics Group, Center for Health Analytics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Hazel Clothier is an infectious disease epidemiologist with a background in public health, outbreak management, and surveillance systems. Her work focuses on using real-world data to support evidence-based decisions that strengthen population health and immunisation programs.

Principal Research Fellow, Vaccine Uptake Group, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI)

Dr Jessica Kaufman is a Principal Research Fellow in the Vaccine Uptake Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne. She leads the Vaccine Social Science Team, which conducts research about the social and behavioural factors that affect vaccine decision-making and uptake across the lifespan. She works in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. 

Kaz Bellamy is an Infectious Diseases and Immunisation Nurse Practitioner with expertise in high risk immunisation and vaccine safety, and a current member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

Director of Infectious Diseases, Launceston General Hospital

​Katrina Clark is an Aboriginal health researcher and the Aboriginal Immunisation Manager for Hunter New England (HNELHD), based in Newcastle. She is deeply committed to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Katrina holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion, a Diploma in Population Health, and a Certificate IV in Indigenous Research Capacity Building. Her work brings together academic knowledge, cultural understanding, and practical experience to strengthen immunisation programs and support healthier futures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

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• Group Leader, Vaccine Trials and Uptake, Murdoch Children's Research Institute

• Paediatrician, Department of General Medicine, The Royal Children's Hospital

• Professor, Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne

• Associate Dean International, The University of Melbourne

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Meru Sheel is Professor of Infectious Diseases and Global Health at the University of Sydney. Dr Sheel leads the Infectious Diseases, Immunisation and Emergencies (IDIE) group at the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute and Sydney School of Public Health and the University of Sydney. With close to 20 years of global public health experience, Dr Sheel has extensive field experience of having worked in several settings in the Asia-Pacific region and currently leads projects based in Fiji, Lap PDR and the Philippines. Dr Sheel also Co-Chairs the Immunization Agenda (IA2030) strategic priority pillar on Research and Innovation and serves on the Data Use Working Group and is a member of the WHO’s Immunization and Vaccines Related Implementation Research Advisory Committee (IVIR-AC). In 2019, Meru was recognised as the Science and Medicine winner for 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians, the 2020 ANU Vice Chancellors Awards for Impact and Engagement and 2023 finalist for Women’s Agenda Leadership awards for Health

Aboriginal Health Team Coordinator, Boorloo (Perth) Public Health Unit, North Metropolitan Health Service.

Naomi Nelson, is a proud Njaki-Njaki woman from the Noongar nation who has connections to Ballardong and Wadjak countries. She has been in health for 8 years currently working at Boorloo Public Health Unit for the last 5 years as the Aboriginal Health Team Co Ordinator with the team managing portfolios in immunisation and notifiable communicable diseases. 

Assoc Prof Amy Jennison is the Principal Chief Scientist for the Public and Environmental Health Reference laboratories in the Queensland Department of Health. A/Prof Jennison has a particular interest in genomic analysis for surveillance of emerging pathogens and addressing antimicrobial resistance issues in bacterial pathogens including N. gonorrhoeae. 

• Associate Director, Clinical Research and Services, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS)

• General Paediatrician, Staff specialist, Sydney Children's Hospital Network

• Professor, The Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, The University of Sydney

Assistant Director-General Preparedness Branch, Public Health Division  Australian Centre for Disease Control.

Dr Christian McGrath is a general and infectious diseases physician with extensive experience in multidisciplinary health environments. He has additional skills in education, journalism and science. Christian has over a decade of experience in clinical infectious diseases and public health management. He has statewide experience leading in both a Pandemic environment (in the Department of Health, COVID Quarantine Victoria, North Eastern Public Health Unit) and essential business within public health and healthcare. Christian was appointed as Deputy Chief Health Officer (COVID-19) in 2022 and Deputy Chief Health Officer Communicable Diseases in December 2023.

Mr Terry Slevin has been Chief Executive Officer for the Public Health Association of Australia since May 2018. 

He is Adjunct Professor in the National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, and Adjunct Professor in the College of Health and Medicine at the Australian National University. He is a Fellow of PHAA, and was the first Vice President (Development) of the Association.

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