Tilman Ruff Author

Professor Joseph Torresi is an infectious diseases physician at Knox Private Hospital, Eastern Epworth Private hospital and Austin Hospital Hepatitis Service, and a former NHMRC practitioner fellow. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and has a PhD in microbiology. He is head of the hepatitis research laboratory in department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne where he has established research programs in hepatitis C vaccine development, hepatitis B associated liver cancer and antibody responses to dengue virus. Professor Torresi was the Australian (Melbourne) site director, for the Geo-Sentinel Surveillance Network from 1997 to 2010 and has continued in the role as the co-director. During this period he was instrumental in the development of the travel medicine services and research activities at the Royal Melbourne hospital and in building its international profile. He is the current chair of the publications committee of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM), a board member the ISTM Foundation, a Fellow of ISTM and a Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow . He has published over 160 papers, book chapters and books, has served as scientific chair for a number of conferences in travel medicine and has served on several CISTM scientific committees.

Professor Karin Leder is head of the Infectious Diseases Epidemiology Unit within the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, and also works as a visiting infectious diseases physician for the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where she leads the Travel and Immigrant health services. Her specific areas of interest include imported infections among travellers, immigrants and refugees, as well as waterborne infections, specifically focused on water and sanitation issues in resource-poor settings.  She is a leader of the global surveillance network GeoSentinel, section editor of Travel Medicine for UpToDate, regional advisor for the Journal of Travel Medicine, and an associate editor for Travel Medicine and Infectious Diseases. She is editor and author on many books, chapters and papers on health risks in travellers, and has held leadership roles within the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Associate Professor Tilman Ruff is based at the Nossal Institute for Global Health, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. A public health and infectious diseases physician focused on preventive medicine, Professor Tilman headed travel medicine at Fairfield Hospital and then Royal Melbourne Hospital; worked on hepatitis B control and maternal and child health in Indonesia and Pacific island countries with Burnet Institute, AusAID, UNICEF and WHO; worked as regional medical director for vaccines for a large vaccine manufacturer, and serves on the WHO Western Pacific Region Hepatitis B Immunisation Expert Resource Panel. He teaches on the public health and human rights dimensions of nuclear technology in the Melbourne MD, masters and undergraduate courses.

For over 20 years he has been medical advisor to the International Program of Australian Red Cross. He serves as a co-president of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Prize 1985); and was co-founder and founding Australian and international chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN, Nobel Peace Prize 2017). 

Associate Professor Daniel O’Brien is an infectious diseases physician working in the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and in the Geelong Infectious Diseases Service at University Hospital Geelong. He is also a clinical associate professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne. His areas of interest include travel medicine, immigrant and refugee health, Mycobacterial diseases and HIV. He is a member of the WHO Technical Advisory Group for Buruli ulcer.

Associate Professor Mike Starr is a paediatrician, infectious diseases physician, consultant in emergency medicine and head of travel medicine at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. He is also Director of Paediatric Education and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.  Mike trained in Melbourne and Vancouver, and has worked and taught in many countries.  He is immediate past Chair of the International Society of Travel Medicine Pediatric Interest Group. He has published and lectured extensively on issues related to paediatric travel medicine. His areas of interest include rational use of antibiotics, infectious diseases emergencies, travel and tropical medicine, international health, education and training.

Dr Sarah McGuinness is an infectious diseases physician, lecturer and researcher based at the Alfred Hospital and Monash University in Melbourne. Sarah completed infectious diseases training (FRACP) in Melbourne and Darwin, has a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine degree and is currently enrolled in a PhD through Monash University. Her research interests include health problems arising from infectious diseases in developing countries, health issues in travellers, and the local and global epidemiology of infectious diseases. She currently runs the travel medicine clinic at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and teaches in the Master of Public Health program at Monash University. She is an active member of International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM).

Dr Katherine Gibney is an infectious diseases physician, public health physician and medical epidemiologist in the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service (VIDS) at the Doherty Institute. She has a particular interest in infections in immigrants and returned travellers, vector-borne diseases and gastrointestinal infections, and indigenous health. Dr Gibney has a Masters of Public Health degree and completed the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program – a two-year applied epidemiology fellowship in the arboviral diseases branch of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). She also completed infectious diseases training (FRACP) and public health training (FAFPHM) and was awarded a PhD from Monash University.