2024 Invited Speakers

The Conference has three days of incredible speakers, read a little more about them below.

  • BSc, MB.BS, MSc, MD, FRCPath, DTM&H, FRCP(Ed), FESCMID, FISAC

    Stephanie is a medical microbiologist in NHS Lanarkshire and Professor of Microbiology at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. She edited the Journal of Hospital Infection for over 20 years, five of them as editor-in-chief, and now edits for Infection, Disease & Health and International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. She trained at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London followed by postgraduate studies at Guy's Hospital, where she gained a thesis on the epidemiology and biochemistry of toxin-producing staphylococci. She has worked and travelled all over the world, including the Canadian High Arctic, where she resuscitated 30,000-year-old organisms from glacial ice. She spent six years as Infection Control Officer for Argyll before moving to Health Protection Scotland as their inaugural microbiologist (2002-5). There, she set up MRSA surveillance for Scotland, evaluated real-time PCR for MRSA screening and helped establish the Scottish Microbiology Forum. She has been a member of various working groups on antibiotic prescribing, MRSA and hospital cleaning, and is a current or recent member of NHS Scotland Decontamination; NHS Scotland ASSURE; UK NICE (infection control & antimicrobial prescribing); UK HTA (screening and diagnostics); ESCMID groups on infection control (ESGNI), MRSA & multi-resistant Gram-negative bacilli; and 2023 ECCMID conference committee. She advised DEFRA on surface cleaning and hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic and collaborated with an international group of virologists, physicists, ventilation engineers and aerosol scientists on airborne spread of SARS-CoV-2. She has published books, book chapters and over 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals on hospital cleaning, antimicrobial management, infection control and MRSA. At present, she balances editorial duties with research and teaching, specifically the environmental control of hospital pathogens.

  • Larisa Thathiah is the Regional Sustainability Lead - North and the National Lead for the Circular Economy and Waste workstream for Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora. She leads regional engagement efforts to successfully implement sustainable initiatives within the districts, while also making a significant national impact through her work in circular economy and waste minimisation. Her previous roles include National Sustainability Manager for Fonterra Brands New Zealand and Head of Sustainability for EnviroNZ.

    She holds a master's degree in Environmental Management, complemented by a second master’s degree in Business Administration. Larisa prioritizes creating positive impact and closely aligns with the philosophy articulated by Jochen Zeitz, emphasizing that sustainability is no longer just about reducing harm, but about actively fostering positive change. Her diverse skill set and pragmatic approach enable her to collaborate effectively towards achieving sustainability goals across all pillars of sustainable development.

  • I am Hasnainali Chaudhari (Ali), working in aged care as residential Care Unit Manager. Basically I am NZ registered nurse and completed my PG Certificate in health science and currently Perusing PG diploma in health science in advance nursing. I have good experience and knowledge in variety of aged care subjects which include infection control, policies and procedures.

  • Ko Tongariro te Maunga/ Ko Taupo-nui-a-Tia te moana / Ko Waikato te Awa / Ko Ngaati Paakehaa te iwi/ Ko Jared Green toku ingoa.

    Jared is the Clinical Lead for Infection Prevention for Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals in the Northern Territory and maintains a small clinical footprint in the Central North Island. He previously worked on the COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunisation programme at Manatū Hauora, Waikato DHB’s COVID directorate, and as a General and Infectious Diseases Physician at Waikato Hospital and a Rural Hospital Generalist at Thames Hospital. He is owned by a Border Collie and Siamese Cat.

  • My vision is that New Zealand continues to recognize the complexities that the aged care workforce is dealing with. Having a workforce that is well-recognized and well-supported will inspire the gerontology nurses to remain in their practice and continue to provide patient-centered care. It is important that we continue to acknowledge the pivotal role of gerontology nurses across various settings in providing excellent and compassionate care to our older people and Kaumatua to live well, age well and have a respectful end of life.

  • Camilla is a Sepsis Clinical Nurse Specialist working at Te Whatu Ora Waikato. Camilla works as a clinician with patients and whanau from the acute sepsis event through to running nurse led Sepsis Recovery outpatient clinics. She is co-chair of the local sepsis governance group and act as a subject matter expert for the Quality Patient Safety department at Waikato. Camilla is also part of the Te Taahuu Hauora / HQSC team working on a national sepsis program and works alongside the NZ Sepsis Trust.

  • Nurses as Guardians for Antimicrobial Stewardship!

    Brenda Waite is a Doctoral of Health Sciences (DHSc.) student at the University of Auckland whose research interests are around nursing engagement and leadership within the field of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS). Specifically, what is the role of nurses within AMS and how do they implement AMS activities in their clinical practice?

    Antimicrobial stewardship promotes key strategies in the effort to reduce antimicrobial resistance and protect against emerging infectious diseases. AMS and IPC are distinct and separate domains of practice however AMS and IPC go hand in hand especially in the areas of prevention and reducing the spread of infection.

    Brenda is a Registered Nurse working as CNM (Charge Nurse Manager) of a Respiratory ward at Waikato hospital. She has completed post graduate study in nursing in addition to a Masters of Social Sciences in Psychology at Waikato University.

    Brenda Waite was co-investigator in the Heath Research Grant (HRG) 2021/22 investigating the role and clinical engagement of New Zealand Registered Nurses within Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS), with its research under review for publication. Brenda is currently part of a NZ nursing advisory group led by researcher Dr Gigi Lim who is part of the Te Niwha Research project addressing ‘Inequity in Antibiotic use and strengthening antimicrobial stewardship throughout Aotearoa’.

    Looking into the future, formalized nursing leadership and engagement in Antimicrobial Stewardship is essential to reduce antimicrobial resistance, to action global and National AMS directives and most importantly to improve health outcomes.

  • Plain Language Consultant

    MBA with distinction (Business Administration) Auckland University of Technology BA (political science) University of Auckland

    CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) Cambridge

    Certified Sustainability Professional (Global Reporting Initiative)

    Claire is a highly skilled trainer, facilitator and writer. She knows effective communication starts by with clear, critical thinking that gets to the heart of the issue. She teaches techniques that enable writers and decision makers to be more compelling and engaging.

    Claire has spent her career immersed in communications that make a difference. She has led communications and development at Counties Manukau District Health Board, SkyCity Cinemas, NZ Symphony Orchestra and as a consultant to a range of businesses and not-for-profits.

    She has seen the value of plain language in each environment. She says, ‘Clear language and communications change the way you think about things. It makes businesses better and more disciplined. It helps build integrity and transparency. You can’t hide behind complexity.’

    Working with individuals and teams, she helps clients to work out what they know and what they need. Then she builds on their existing knowledge and skills so they can increase the value of their work as soon as they return to their desks.

    Claire has coached businesses on using plain language to say what they mean, do what they say, and build trust and integrity in their brands.

  • I am an infectious diseases physician working in Te Whatu Ora Waikato and am also the director of infection prevention and control. I have worked in Waikato since 2021. Previous to this appointment I worked as an infectious diseases physician in the UK at Leeds Teaching Hospitals.

  • I am a Registered Nurse having worked in a variety of nursing roles over the last 40 years plus. My career started at Christchurch Hospital working in the Emergency Department (ED) initially as a staff Nurse then as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. After 18 years I left the ED to work in primary healthcare in a dual role as a practice nurse at a 24hour surgery and the Hospital in the Home extended care programme. A change in direction eventuated in taking up a role as the clinical lead at LaserVision – a refractive eye clinic. I left LaserVision after five years and headed off to Saudi Arabia working a two year contract at King Faisal Hospital Emergency Department. On return to NZ I worked for Medibank on the National Telehealth Programme – Healthline as the Clinical Nurse Advisor. From there I worked for a brief time at ACC as a cover specialist in Treatment Injury, leaving to take up a role at Healthcare NZ – Solora as the clincial quality specialist. I left Solora during the pandemic to a fixed term role with the Ministry of Health undertaking Infection Prevention and Control audits at the border (airports, maritime ports and Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities), this was well supported by the expert Infection prevention nursing teams around New Zealand. When New Zealand’s borders opened, I started my current role as a Principal Advisor within the Ministry of Health HealthCERT team.

  • Prior to 2023 Carolyn Clissold had been part of the Capital and Coast IPC Clinical Nurse Specialist team for 15 years.

    Since January 2023 Carolyn has been working in Te Whatu Ora national office in the Public Health Service. In this role she has provided IPC input into public health advice and has chaired the COVID clinical advisory group and provided leadership to the Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) technical advisory group. In April 2024 she became the Infection Service Co-Lead and Clinical Principal Advisor- IPC.

  • Holly trained as a nurse in the UK and has enjoyed living and working in NZ for the past 20 years. She completed her Masters in Clinical Nursing in 2016.

    She has various roles including nurse lead for the national endoscopy quality improvement programme (NEQIP), a nurse in the Waitaha, Canterbury endoscopy unit and one of the NZ facilitators for the GENCA fundamentals of reprocessing workshops.

    She is a great believer in not reinventing the wheel!

  • “Paul is an infectious disease physician based at Waikato Hospital. He is currently the clinical lead for sepsis quality improvement with Te Taahuu Hauora, and co-founded the New Zealand Sepsis Trust in 2017 to promote community awareness and support for sepsis survivors.”