RBWH puts spotlight on infectious disease 

Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital is leading the way in infectious diseases, hosting Queensland’s first Infectious Disease in the Immunocompromised Host Forum.

Spearheaded by Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Registrar Dr Adam Stewart, the forum brought together clinicians and scientists from different speciality areas, including microbiology, hematology, paediatrics, oncology, as well as bone marrow, lung, kidney and heart transplantation.  

There were also specialised pharmacists, dieticians nursing staff, transplant coordinators, researchers, and representatives from industry in attendance.  

 “The event ultimately sought to improve patient care, but in order to do that we need to improve our ability to formulate collaborative projects and ideas to solve big problems,” Adam said.  

“One of the most significant factors of poor outcomes for transplant patients is infection, and it is a common problem throughout all hospitals and speciality areas.”  

 With so many different medical specialities and allied health professionals involved in the care of transplant patients, Adam saw the benefit of convening everyone at the RBWH Education Centre and virtually for the June forum. 

 “One of the outcomes of the forum was the identification of research priorities and increased interest for multicentre studies. We saw collaboration between expert scientists with the skills and ideas to address certain problems, link up with individuals who have access to patient cohorts to run larger studies,” Adam said.  

 “For complex problems like antimicrobial resistance in transplant recipients, collaboration is so important for our understanding of how it works in different patient groups.”  

 The one-day event included presentations from a range of clinical areas, with a focus on current and future research, as well as guest speakers from Melbourne and Perth who are world leaders in this area of infectious diseases.  

 “Metro North Health is uniquely placed to host this type of forum because we have such strength in our collaboration and depth of talent,” Adam said.  

 The forum will take place again next year, shortly after which Adam will be traveling to Boston to undertake a fellowship at a Harvard University affiliated hospital, where he will be working in transplant infectious diseases. 

The Infectious Disease in the Immunocompromised Host Forum was organised in collaboration with Metro North Health, University of Queensland, Herston Infectious Diseases Institute, CRE Respond and the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.