Australian Herpes Management Forum

AHMF Board

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The AHMF is directed by a board which comprises a small group of experts in the field. It is the responsibility of the Board to review information regarding management and control of herpes virus infections.

Board Members

Professor Adrian Mindel

Professor Adrian Mindel is Professor of Sexual Health Medicine, University of Sydney and Director of the STIRC, Westmead Hospital. He has considerable experience of both the clinical and psychological management of patients with herpes and is frequently invited to lecture on the subject. His knowledge of the area is reflected by his presence on several advisory boards for sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, and the Editorial Board of Herpes, the journal of the International Herpes Management Forum (IHMF).

Professor Tony Cunningham

Professor Cunningham is Director, Westmead Millennium Institute and Research Centre, Westmead Hospital and Professor of Research Medicine and Sub-Dean (research) Western Clinical School, the University of Sydney. He has held a number of clinical and academic appointments in virology and infectious diseases, both in Australia and in the United States. He was appointed Associate Professor of Virology / Medicine in the University of Sydney, Department of Medicine in 1989. He joined the Board of the Children's Medical Research Institute as the nominee of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney in 1996. In 2001 he was appointed Deputy Director and in 2002 Co-ordinator (Director) of the National Centre for HIV Virology Research. His research interests focus on viral medicine, especially basic biology pathogenesis, seroepidemiology, diagnosis and anti-viral treatment of HIV and herpes virus infections. He has particular clinical research interests in the epidemiology of HSV2 and the development of new antivirals and vaccines for genital herpes.

Professor Suzanne Garland

Professor Suzanne Garland is Director of Microbiological Research and Head of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Royal Women’s Hospital, Senior Consultant Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Royal Women’s and Royal Children’s Hospitals, Women’s and Children’s Health. She is also a practicing Sexual Health Physician. As one of Victoria’s leading Clinical Microbiologists, Professor Garland is well known for her research on infectious diseases, having been involved in clinical trials of antivirals and vaccines for herpes simplex virus. She has a special interest in the management of herpes in the pregnant woman and the neonate, and she chairs the Obstetrics and Gynaecological working group of AHMF.

Dr Joe Sasadeusz

Dr. Joe Sasadeusz is an infectious diseases physician primarily based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital with cross appointments at the Alfred Hospital and the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre in Melbourne, Australia. He undertook his basic medical training at Monash University Melbourne which was followed by advanced training in general medicine then infectious diseases training in Melbourne. He then moved to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada where he completed a Ph.D. in the area of herpes simplex virus antiviral resistance under the supervision of Professor Stephen Sacks. Joe has an interest in chronic viral hepatitis with a particular focus on confection of HIV with hepatitis viruses. He has an attachment to the Bone Marrow Transplant Service at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has a specific interest in viral infections in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Professor Dominic Dwyer

Dominic Dwyer is the medical virologist and an infectious diseases physician at Westmead Hospital in Sydney. He trained at St Vincent’s and Westmead Hospitals, and undertook postgraduate research at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, France. He has a clinical and research interest in viral diseases of public health importance (including herpes viruses and HIV) and in new antiviral drugs and vaccines. He is a member of various Commonwealth, NHMRC and State committees, including the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia and the Public Health Laboratory Network.

Dr William Rawlinson

Professor William Rawlinson is director of the Virology Division, SEALS Microbiology at Prince of Wales Hospital. He supervises a reference virology laboratory from South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health Service, virology clinical trials unit, and the virology research laboratory. Professor Rawlinson is a molecular virologist with particular scientific expertise in herpes viruses (CMV), hepatitis viruses (HCV), gastroenteritis agents (NLV), and endogenous retroviruses. His contributions to science includes new testing algorithms for common viral illnesses, sequencing and analysis of the murine CMV genome, unique studies of congenital CMV and the placenta, unique data on endogenous viruses and cancer, and he continues to directly supervise projects within these areas. Professor Rawlinson has received awards in science (The Fenner Prize in Microbiology, The Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Medicine, Glaxo award for advanced research in infectious diseases, Fellowship of the Australian Society for Microbiology, The Eric de Bunsen award King's College), and is on advisory boards to the NSW and Commonwealth Departments of Health.

Dr Catriona Ooi

Dr Catriona Ooi is Director Sexual Health, Hunter New England Area Health. She completed a Masters of Medicine in HIV/STIs with research on syphilis and has been published in both national and international peer reviewed journals. Dr Ooi’s work predominantly focuses on sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, and she has worked in the United Kingdom as well as rural and metropolitan areas of Australia. She has a conjoint academic appointment with the University of Newcastle and is Chair of the General Practice Working Party for Herpes Viruses.