Infection and Immunity

How severe is Omicron? How is easily is it transmitted? How do our vaccines fair against this new variant?In this bonus episode of Doherty Institute Director Professor Sharon Lewin explains what the evidence is telling us about the Omicron variant.Infection and Immunity - Evidence ExplainedPlease note this episode was recorded on Tuesday, 18 January 2022 before the Federal Government announced the Therapeutic Goods Administration had approved the Novavax vaccine along with two COVID-19 oral drugs molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir + ritonavir, for use in Australia. The episode was also recorded before a Code Brown alert was activated across multiple hospitals in the stateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the Director of the Doherty Institute have to say after another year of battling COVID-19?In our final episode of the season we are joined by Professor Sharon Lewin to unpack the scientific evidence after another 12 months of riding out the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19.We talk about what was done well, what we could do better and what 2022 may have in store for us.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wednesday, 1 December is Worlds AIDS Day, with the 2021 edition marking 40 years since the first cases of AIDS-defining illnesses were first clinically documented.So how far has the science progressed when it comes to treating HIV? What is it like today for people living with HIV? Is a cure on the cards? Are there any lessons we can learn from COVID-19?In this episode Jared Stern answers our questions and helps us better understand HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) , the virus that if left untreated, causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). Jared is a PhD candidate at the Doherty Institute in Professor Sharon Lewin’s lab researching a cure for HIV. They are also the Director of Living Positive Victoria and have been living with HIV since 2015.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last Friday the Doherty-led modelling consortium presented their final report to National Cabinet. What does the latest report tell us? And what have we learned from the previous reports released?To help unpack the data and findings, we’re joined by Professor Jodie McVernon, Director of Epidemiology at the Doherty Institute, who has led the modelling consortium responsible for the report.Show notes:Read our statement on the latest report: https://www.doherty.edu.au/news-events/news/statement-on-the-doherty-institute-modelling-final-report-to-national-cabinetVisit the Doherty Institute Modelling Hub for further information on epidemiological modelling released by the consortium: https://www.doherty.edu.au/our-work/institute-themes/viral-infectious-diseases/covid-19/covid-19-modelling/modellingCheck out our previous episodes on modelling:Doherty Institute modelling sensitivity analysisDoherty Institute modellingWe want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As of Monday, 8 November, Australians over 18 who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago, are now eligible for a third dose.So why do we need booster shots? What does it mean for Australia as we transition to living with the virus? And when should we be rolling up our sleeves for our next dose?To learn more about the latest evidence around COVID-19 vaccine boosters, I am speaking with Professor Dale Godfrey, Immunology Theme Leader at the Doherty Institute.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COVID-19 research has come a long way since the beginning of 2020, but what initial steps where taken to prepare for the emergence of this new virus? In late January 2020, the team in the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) announced they had grown the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the first Australian COVID-19 patient sample in cell culture. They were the first laboratory to do so outside of China and the first to share it with the world. In this episode, you'll discover how the team grew the virus, what led them to this moment and why it was an important catalyst for further research, preparedness and diagnostics, including that three letter initialism we've become so familiar with, PCR.To talk us through it, our guest for this episode is Dr Mike Catton. Mike is the Deputy Director of the Doherty Institute and Director of the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s VIDRL, where he has been at the helm for more than 20 years. Aside from leading Victoria’s COVID-19 diagnostics capabilities over the last 20 months or so, Mike has many achievements under his belt. These include leading a collaborative effort to establish lab capacity for Australian back in 2003 for the original SARS; discovering a new arenavirus as the cause of a cluster of deaths among Victorian transplant patients in 2007, and being instrumental in the establishment of the Doherty Institute in 2014.Show notes:You can also read this story, , in our 2020 Impact Report.Growing and sharing the virus that changed the worldABC exclusive story we referenced in the episode.Watch the press conference Mike appeared in.Learn more about the arenavirus outbreak Mike's team discovered in this episode of ABC Radio National's Patient Zero.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In late September, we held an event online called COVID-19 vaccines – your questions answered Part 2with the aim of getting our experts to answer as many questions about COVID-19 vaccines from the audience as possible within an hour and a half. As with our first event of the same name back in March, we couldn’t get through all of them, so we’re bringing you this bonus episode of the podcast to answer a few more., We were overwhelmed with questions about vaccines and kids, so in this bonus episode we welcome back to the podcast Associate Professor Margie Danchin, who was one of our panellists.Margie is a consultant paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital and an Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist at the University of Melbourne and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. As leader of the Vaccine Uptake Group, her research focuses mainly on vaccine confidence, acceptance, and uptake, particularly among high risk-groups and in low and middle-income countries.To find out more about the work taking place at the Doherty Institute, subscribe to our newsletter.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you wondered what it must be like working on the frontline in Victoria's COVID wards during the pandemic?In this episode of , we're taken on that journey behind the scenes with Associate Professor Steve Tong and Dr Janine Trevillyan, two very hard-working infectious diseases physicians treating patients in COVID wards at two of our busiest hospitals in Victoria – the Royal Melbourne and the Austin.Infection and Immunity - Evidence ExplainedAssociate Professor Steven Tongis an Infectious Diseases Physician at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and Co-Lead of the Clinical Research Discipline at the Doherty Institute. He is also Lead Investigator of the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial, or ASCOT, as it’s more commonly known.Dr Janine Trevillyanis the Clinical Lead of Austin Health's COVID-19 Vaccination Program. She is also Head of Clinical Virology and HIV Services at Austin Health and an Infectious Diseases Physician at that hospital.Read Associate Professor Steve Tong's Twitter thread and opinion piece for Fairfax Media on his experience working in the COVID wards at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Hear more from Associate Professor Steve Tong in our previous episode, .COVID-19 treatments part 1 - The Australian experienceTo find out more about the work taking place at the Doherty Institute, subscribe to our newsletter.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the release of the Technical Report and Addendum to National Cabinet on 10 August, the Doherty Institute-led modelling consortium was asked to provide “sensitivity analyses” of the scenarios represented in the Report. They were asked to test the robustness of the recommendation to transition to Phases B and C of the Plan at 70 per cent and 80 per cent vaccination coverage if COVID-19 infection was already established in the community. Dr Chris Baker is a member of the modelling consortium, a research fellow in the School of Mathematics and Statistics and also works in the Centre for Data Science and Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis all at the University of Melbourne. He's here to breakdown what it all means.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians are now coming out in droves to get their COVID-19 vaccines as we strive towards the double dose targets that will allow us more freedoms according to the National Plan to transition Australia’s National COVID Response.This is supported by new research conducted in July as part of the Optimise Study, which found that more than 86 per cent of Victorians who were part of the study are now definitely intending to be vaccinated or are already vaccinated. This is compared to November 2020 when just 61% of the cohort indicated their intention to get vaccinated.For this episode of our series all about COVID-19 – the virus, variants and vaccines, we're joined by Chief Investigators for the Optimise Study, Professor Margaret Hellard and Dr Katherine Gibney.We want to hear from you! Help us shape future episodes of our podcast by telling us a little about yourself, how you listen to and what you'd like to hear more of in 2022. The survey is anonymous and will only take a few minutes to complete.Infection and Immunity – Evidence ExplainedSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.