4th Primary Care Infectious Diseases Meeting

Speaker: Dr Rodney Pearce AM

Dr Rodney Pearce AM is a country and city GP and Medical Officer of Health for the Eastern Health Authority (HA), Adelaide. Dr Pearce became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day 2012. He received the award for his long-standing service to medicine as a General Practitioner, through contributions to national medical organisations and to education.

1. General Practice Initiatives

Dr Anita Sharma is the practice principal of Platinum Medical Centre, a medical educator and an accredited supervisor for general practice registrars and medical students. She is co-author of RACGP Handbook of T2 D management in Primary care and contributes towards writing CHECK programs for RACGP. She is a member of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Education Committee and the Diabetes National Faculty Specific Interest Group. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland’s School of Clinical Medicine Primary Care Clinical Unit and serves on the editorial board for Medicine Today.Dr Anita Sharma is the practice principal of Platinum Medical Centre, a medical educator and an accredited supervisor for general practice registrars and medical students. She is co-author of RACGP Handbook of T2 D management in Primary care and contributes towards writing CHECK programs for RACGP. She is a member of The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Education Committee and the Diabetes National Faculty Specific Interest Group. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland’s School of Clinical Medicine Primary Care Clinical Unit and serves on the editorial board for Medicine Today.

Dr Sharma serves on the advisory board for Reed Medical Education and develops education modules on chronic diseases like diabetes, heart failure, Chronic Kidney Disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity and osteoporosis. Dr Sharma is a medical review officer and designated aviation medical examiner for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Medical Review Officer for Civil Aviation Society of Australia. She is a member of MDA National’s State Advisory Committee (Queensland) and active member of Queensland Medical Women’s Society (QMWS), Australian Federation of Medical Women( AFMW) and Doctor’s Health Queensland ( DHQ). Maintaining high clinical standards, contributing to articles and clinical  guidelines and teaching are her passions.

2. Council led initiatives

Priscilla Singh is a Registered Midwife and Clinical Nurse Consultant in Infection Prevention and Control. She holds a Master of Infection Prevention and Control from Griffith University (completed in March 2024), alongside postgraduate qualifications in immunisation and a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment.

Priscilla is an Executive Committee Member of the Immunisation Nurse Special Interest Group (INSIG) Inc. and actively immunises for her local council. She contributes to research governance through her service on several research ethics committees, including those at Monash University and St John of God Healthcare.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Priscilla played a pivotal role in the South East Public Health Vaccination Program (2021–2022) and was deployed to Fiji as the Infection Prevention and Control lead during the outbreak.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to public health, Priscilla was awarded the Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACIPC) 2024 Impact of the Year Award for her work in the community. In June 2025, she was also awarded the prestigious ACIPC Certified Infection Control Professional – Expert (CICP-E) certification.

Priscilla is currently undertaking a PhD, further advancing her expertise and commitment to evidence-based infection prevention and control.

3. Community Health Centre initiatives

Ms Philippa Holland is the Immunisation Coordinator for the City of Melbourne Council since 2015. She oversees all aspects of immunisation including school, childhood, flu and catch-up immunisation programs. Philippa has taken a keen interest in catch-up immunisations for migrant and refugee children and the inequalities and barriers of the current system.

She has built a partnership with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to co-design the “Migration Immunisation Access (MIA) Project: determining the extent and impact of migrant children’s vaccination ‘catch-up’ schedules”. This project won the GSK Immunisation Award in 2020. To date findings of this project have been published in ‘Vaccine’ and ‘Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health’. She is also a tutor at the Australian College of Nursing where she helps mentor nurses and pharmacists to become authorised nurse immunisers across all states.

Prior to 2015 she has worked as an Immunisation Educator with the Australian College of Nursing. She has experience in clinical research and helped lead vaccine clinical trials for Nucleus Medical. Philippa has also worked as the lead for travel immunisation as a practice nurse at Goldman Sachs in London.

Panel Discussion

Dr Andrew Baird is a General Practitioner in St Kilda, Melbourne, and a Medical Advisor with a medical defence organisation.  He has a background in rural general practice and medical education.

Professor Julia BROTHERTON (B Med (Hons), MPH (Hons), Grad Dip App Epi, FAFPHM, GACD, PhD) is a Professor of Cancer Prevention Policy and Implementation, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at The University of Melbourne and a Professorial Fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance. She is a public health physician and epidemiologist, who has worked in HPV vaccination and cervical screening since 2004 and has an international reputation in cervical cancer control, having been appointed as a member of the WHO Director General’s Cervical Cancer Elimination Advisory Group and IARC’s Handbook on Cervical Cancer Screening Working Group. Her research has informed evidence-based policy supporting the implementation and evaluation of HPV vaccination and HPV based cervical screening programs in Australia and globally. Her world first research on early impact of HPV vaccine on HPV prevalence and cervical pre-cancer supported national introductions of HPV vaccine, with her ongoing work contributing to the evidence which supported the WHO recommendation to endorse a single dose HPV vaccine schedule. She holds an NHMRC Fellowship evaluating single dose HPV vaccination and co-leads two annual HPV reports: Australia’s Annual Progress Report on Cervical Cancer Elimination and the National HPV surveillance report.

Dr Anita Muñoz worked as a Clinical Editor and Clinical Advisor for 6 years with North Western Melbourne PHN through which a passion for health system improvement, innovation, sustainability, and equity emerged. She sees general practice as the key to a rational health system that produces better outcomes for patients and practitioners alike.Anita Muñoz is a GP in private practice in Melbourne’s CBD and has a dedication to evidence-based medicine, lifelong learning, and promoting the role of general practice in the health of patients, communities and in public health more broadly.

Anita has held advisory positions with Better Care Victoria and Safer Care Victoria and has been a medical educator for over 9 years. She is particularly preoccupied with the wellbeing and experience of general practice registrars, and of securing a high-quality general practice workforce for the future.

Anna Theophilos is a Melbourne-based community pharmacist, pharmacy owner, and passionate advocate for equitable access to vaccination. With 17 years’ experience as a pharmacy owner, Anna has dedicated her career to building practical, scalable solutions that improve health outcomes for some of Australia’s most vulnerable populations.

Her passion for vaccination access was ignited after confronting national data showing alarmingly low coverage rates among Australians aged 65+, particularly those in residential aged care or living with specific care needs. “I was horrified by the gap,” Anna recalls, “and realised something needed to change – urgently.” Determined to close this gap, Anna developed innovative models for delivering pharmacist-led vaccination programs in aged care facilities, ensuring residents could access life-saving vaccines without the logistical and administrative barriers that too often stand in the way. Her programs have been recognised for their ability to simplify processes for facilities, improve compliance, and achieve outstanding uptake rates.

As a member of the TerryWhite Chemmart Advisory Group, Anna works at a national level to shape strategies that strengthen community pharmacy’s role in preventive health. She collaborates closely with government, industry partners, and professional bodies to drive policy and operational changes that make vaccination more accessible to older Australians and those with complex care needs.
In 2025, Anna was appointed the inaugural PSA National Vaccination Ambassador – a role that allows her to amplify the profession’s voice, champion evidence-based immunisation, and inspire pharmacists nationwide to lead the way in protecting public health.

Prof Nigel Crawford is a consultant general paediatrician and Head of the Immunisation Service at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. He is Director of SAEFVIC, Victoria’s vaccine safety service based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and established the Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre. As Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, Nigel’s research focuses on vaccine safety, immunisation of special risk groups, and emerging infections, particularly those that may soon be vaccine preventable. He has been a member of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) since 2014, appointed as Chair from 2021 to 30 June 2025. Nigel joined the COVID-19 steering group in 2020, and previously chaired the meningococcal and special risks working groups as well as the COVID-19 vaccine safety and communication working group. He was also Australia’s representative on the WHO Global NITAG Network steering committee from 2021 to 2025.

Dr Anita Muñoz worked as a Clinical Editor and Clinical Advisor for 6 years with North Western Melbourne PHN through which a passion for health system improvement, innovation, sustainability, and equity emerged. She sees general practice as the key to a rational health system that produces better outcomes for patients and practitioners alike.Anita Muñoz is a GP in private practice in Melbourne’s CBD and has a dedication to evidence-based medicine, lifelong learning, and promoting the role of general practice in the health of patients, communities and in public health more broadly.

Anita has held advisory positions with Better Care Victoria and Safer Care Victoria and has been a medical educator for over 9 years. She is particularly preoccupied with the wellbeing and experience of general practice registrars, and of securing a high-quality general practice workforce for the future.

Anna Theophilos is a Melbourne-based community pharmacist, pharmacy owner, and passionate advocate for equitable access to vaccination. With 17 years’ experience as a pharmacy owner, Anna has dedicated her career to building practical, scalable solutions that improve health outcomes for some of Australia’s most vulnerable populations.

Her passion for vaccination access was ignited after confronting national data showing alarmingly low coverage rates among Australians aged 65+, particularly those in residential aged care or living with specific care needs. “I was horrified by the gap,” Anna recalls, “and realised something needed to change – urgently.” Determined to close this gap, Anna developed innovative models for delivering pharmacist-led vaccination programs in aged care facilities, ensuring residents could access life-saving vaccines without the logistical and administrative barriers that too often stand in the way. Her programs have been recognised for their ability to simplify processes for facilities, improve compliance, and achieve outstanding uptake rates.

As a member of the TerryWhite Chemmart Advisory Group, Anna works at a national level to shape strategies that strengthen community pharmacy’s role in preventive health. She collaborates closely with government, industry partners, and professional bodies to drive policy and operational changes that make vaccination more accessible to older Australians and those with complex care needs.
In 2025, Anna was appointed the inaugural PSA National Vaccination Ambassador – a role that allows her to amplify the profession’s voice, champion evidence-based immunisation, and inspire pharmacists nationwide to lead the way in protecting public health.

Dr Aliya Alladin is a Brisbane-based General Practitioner with almost a decade of clinical experience and a steadfast commitment to preventative health. She practices in a comprehensive family general practice with a heavy focus on travel medicine, including Yellow Fever and Q Fever immunisation protocols.

​A passionate advocate for proactive, opportunistic healthcare, she is dedicated to reducing the community burden of vaccine-preventable diseases through evidence-based intervention and life-course immunisation strategies, especially in vulnerable populations such as the elderly. She brings a practical, “front-line” understanding of the Australian immunisation landscape, navigating the complexities of National Immunisation Program (NIP) funding versus private, non-funded vaccinations to ensure optimal patient protection.

​Driven by a commitment to the future of healthcare, she finds great fulfillment in supporting the development of the next generation of clinicians, including both GP and non-GP specialists. She believes in fostering a collaborative culture where preventative advocacy is a shared priority. As a GP Moderator for the Immunisation Coalition Masterclass, she aims to inspire peers to become enthusiastic champions of vaccination, ensuring that primary care remains at the heart of global public health efforts.

Haven Moushi is a community pharmacist and proprietor of two pharmacies in Victoria, with over 10 years of experience as an accredited pharmacist immuniser. She is actively involved in the Monash University Intern Training Program (ITP) vaccination program, supporting the development of future pharmacists through practical immunisation training and mentorship, ensuring they are confident and well-prepared to deliver vaccination services.

Haven also has extensive experience delivering off-site vaccination clinics, including within aged care facilities, helping improve access to essential vaccines for vulnerable populations and supporting broader public health initiatives.

As a pharmacy owner, she integrates immunisation services into everyday practice, fostering a culture of prevention and proactive healthcare within her team. She is committed to expanding the role of pharmacists in primary care and advocating for increased accessibility to vaccinations across diverse communities.

Haven continues to contribute to the profession through leadership, practical experience, and a strong dedication to advancing pharmacist-led immunisation services.

Speaker: Dr Rodney Pearce AM

Dr Rodney Pearce AM is a country and city GP and Medical Officer of Health for the Eastern Health Authority (HA), Adelaide. Dr Pearce became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day 2012. He received the award for his long-standing service to medicine as a General Practitioner, through contributions to national medical organisations and to education.

Speaker: Dr Rodney Pearce AM

Dr Rodney Pearce AM is a country and city GP and Medical Officer of Health for the Eastern Health Authority (HA), Adelaide. Dr Pearce became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) on Australia Day 2012. He received the award for his long-standing service to medicine as a General Practitioner, through contributions to national medical organisations and to education.