The Speakers

Neurologist, Head of Neuroimmunology Laboratory, Cemcat, Barcelona, Spain

Dr Manuel Comabella earned his medical degree at the University of Barcelona, completed his neurology residency at the Neurology Department of the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron (HUVH), and earned his PhD at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. From 1996 to 1998 he was a Research Fellow in Neuroimmunology at the Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women´s Hospital, in Boston. In 2010 and 2016, he was awarded with the Ayudas Merck Serono in the multiple sclerosis research area. In 2011 was awarded by the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) with the Biogen Idec Prize to the best publication on demyelinating disorders. In 2013, was awarded by the SEN with the Novartis Prize to the best oral communication and the best publication on demyelinating disorders. In 2014 received the Neurological Disorders Award, scientific modality, granted by the SEN.

Since 2004, Dr Manuel Comabella is the Head of the Clinical Neuroimmunology laboratory at the Fundació Institut de Recerca of the HUVH. From 2013 to 2023, he was Coordinator of Neurosciences and member of the Internal Scientific Committee at the Fundació Institut de Recerca of the HUVH. From 2018 to 2020, he was collaborator of the Biomedicine area at the Division of Coordination, Evaluation and Scientific and Technical Follow-up of the State Research Agency, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. Since June 2008, he works as a clinical neurologist at the Department of Neurology / Neuroimmunology of the MS Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat), HUVH, Barcelona.

Dr Manuel Comabella is currently Editor-in-Chief for Special Issues of Journal of Neuroimmunology, Associate Editor of Frontiers in Immunology, and member of the Editorial Boards of Multiple Sclerosis Journal, Cells, and Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. Dr. Comabella is member of the Board of the ESNI (European School of Neuroimmunology), and from 2015 to 2017, he was coordinator of the BioMSeu (European Consortium for CSF Biomarker Research). Over the past 10 years, Dr. Manuel Comabella has been actively engaged in research studies aimed at better understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of multiple sclerosis. His work focuses on identifying prognostic biomarkers that may both facilitate the development of personalized medicine and serve as therapeutic targets to guide the design of new treatments for multiple sclerosis patients.

Distinguished Scientist, Inflammation and Infection, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Professor Rajiv Khanna obtained his doctorate degree from India and undertook his post-doctoral training at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane Australia. He is the Co-Director of Queensland Immunology Research Centre and currently appointed as Distinguished Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. Professor Khanna is also appointed as Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland and Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Professor Khanna is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was awarded Order of Australia in 2017. He has extensive expertise in immunotherapy clinical trials, herpesvirus immunology and vaccine development. Over the last two decades, his group has successfully translated his research towards the development of novel T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of transplant recipients and autoimmune diseases. Professor Khanna is currently appointed as a consultant to Atara Biotherapeutics, Dynavax Technologies and Cellevolve Bio for the development of novel immunotherapeutics, diagnostic technologies and vaccines. He is also appointed on Scientific Advisory Board of Atara Biotherapeutics. Professor Khanna has been invited by various national and International organizations for expert advice on developing clinical guidelines and scientific review.

Head of Viral Immunology and Respiratory Disease Group, HMRI

Dr Nathan W Bartlett is a Professor and head of the Viral Immunology and Respiratory Disease group, based at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), University of Newcastle, Australia. He also retains an honorary academic appointment at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, UK. He has over 20 years of experience working in respiratory viral immunology, pathogenesis of virus induced respiratory diseases, and drug and vaccine development. After completing Post-Doctoral Research, first at the University of Oxford and then at Imperial College London, he developed a research program investigating rhinovirus infections and exacerbations of asthma and COPD.  His expertise across pre-clinical respiratory virus infection models (including primary human airway epithelial cells) has led him to collaborate on multiple projects generating several patents and numerous highly cited publications. His team is exploring a range of anti-viral and vaccine approaches for SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory viruses including a TLR2/6 agonist-based innate immune stimulating nasal spray (with ENA Respiratory) that has successfully completed phase 2 clinical trial for influenza virus infection. Dr Bartlett is a spokesperson for the National Asthma Council and is a member of the European Respiratory Society College of Experts and theme lead for the Infection Program at HMRI. In addition to research, Dr Bartlett is actively engaged in undergraduate teaching and mentoring Year 1 and 2 Medicine students, Biomedical Science students as well as supervising multiple PhD students.

Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Newcastle

As an executive member of the Asthma and Breathing Program at HMRI, Adam’s vision is to understand the development of asthma and allergic disease in early life and develop effective prevention strategies. He has led the investigation of the immunophenotype in children born to mothers in the NHMRC-funded Breathing for Life Trial. Here he identified altered immune cell profiles associated with increased air pollution exposure in pregnancy, decreased lung function and severe viral respiratory infections in infancy. Adam has a particular interest in the epigenetic regulation of inflammation, asthma exacerbations and their broader implications for development and health.

Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases, John Hunter Hospital

Josh Davis is an Infectious Diseases Physician at John Hunter Hospital, and a Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Newcastle. He has special interests in clinical trials, viral hepatitis and severe bacterial infections including S.aureus bacteraemia, sepsis and prosthetic joint infections, and is the immediate past president of the Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Newcastle and Deputy Leader / Translational Virus Research Theme, Infection Research Program, HMRI

Dr Jason Girkin completed a first-class research honours degree in 2011 in the Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, focusing on the role of early life viral infections, and the initial events of the host-response to virus infection, linking maladaptive innate immunity to the development of asthma.

After completing his honours degree, Jason went on to conduct PhD studies in Immunology and Microbiology. His thesis focused on the role of rhinovirus infection and novel molecular signalling pathways in asthma attacks and was the culmination of four original scientific journal article publications.

His PhD candidature was supported by the Australian Post Graduate Award scholarship and the Vice Chancellors Award scholarship.

Jason’s postdoctoral career has focused on innate immunity in the respiratory tract, antiviral responses and novel therapeutics for prophylactic treatment of viral-induced disease.

Jason’s contribution to this field has resulted in the clinical trials for the development of an immune-activating small molecule for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and Influenza.

Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Gastrointestinal Research Group, HMRI

Dr Kateleen Hedley is a postdoctoral researcher in the Gastrointestinal Research Group at the University of Newcastle. She received her PhD in March 2024 in Human Physiology with a thesis topic in Neuroscience and Immunology.

Dr Hedley is a neuroimmunologist with expertise in the peripheral to central neuroimmune connection. Her research focuses on the bi-directional relationship between pathophysiology in the body, such as infection and altered microbiome, and disrupted neuronal signalling in the central nervous system. Her research focuses on discovery science, with a strong emphasis on unravelling the mechanisms that explain our observations.

Associate Professor and Deputy Head Immunology/Microbiology

School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle and Theme Leader Stem Cells and Organoids in Mucosal Diseases, HMRI 

Associate Professor Kaiko is the deputy head of discipline for Immunology/Microbiology at the University of Newcastle, and a Theme Leader at Hunter Medical Research Institute for mucosal stem cells. He worked for 6 years in the USA and UK focussed on stem cell systems before starting a laboratory in Australia focused on drug discovery as well as translational medicine. His group works on multiple diseases including cystic fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal anastomosis, and asthma. The team also focusses on combining these technologies with ‘big data’ to investigate the role of novel gene and microbiota factors in regulating pathogenesis in these mucosal diseases. His work in collaboration with leading clinicians led to one of Australia’s first organoid-guided interventional clinical trials, the national ORIGIN-1 (ORganoId GuIded N-of-1) precision medicine clinical trial, which has used lab tests to successfully identify cystic fibrosis patients who can go on to respond to therapies in the clinic.

Rheumatologist & Clinical Immunologist, Georgetown Arthritis 

Dr Mansfield has worked in private practice and at John Hunter Hospital for the past 7 years.  Dr Mansfield specialises in inflammatory joint and rheumatic conditions and also enjoys teaching.

Staff Specialist Neurologist SVHNS, MS Research Australia Post-Doctorate Fellow, Senior Lecturer UNSW School of Clinical Medicine

 Jennifer Massey is a consultant neurologist with a specialist interest in neuroimmunology and MS. She graduated from the University of Western Australia with honours in 2009, completing neurology specialty training in 2018. In 2021 Dr Massey completed her PhD in immune reconstitution therapies for MS. Jennifer currently works across the St Vincent’s Health Campus in Sydney, including her role as the lead neurologist in the ongoing AHSCT for MS and other Neuroimmunological Disease trials and is a co-investigator on other MS clinical trials including advances in cell therapy. She remains active in translational research with a recent successful NHMRC grant to investigate the role of EBV in MS, and has published extensively in MS immunopathology.

Jennifer remains passionate about the care of patients with MS.

Neurologist, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Myintzu Min graduated from The University of Adelaide in 2010. She undertook subspeciality fellowship training in Multiple Sclerosis/Neuroimmunology at John Hunter Hospital. Dr Min became a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Subspecialising in Neurology) in 2020. She is currently employed as a Staff Specialist at John Hunter Hospital. Her interests include Multiple Sclerosis, Myasthenia Gravis and other immune-mediated CNS disorders. She is actively involved in neuroimmunology education, advocacy and clinical trial research.

Senior Research Fellow, Transplant Immunology, University of Newcastle

Associate Professor Katie Baines is a Research Fellow in Transplant Immunology at the School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Newcastle. She also serves as Deputy Director and Theme Leader of the Transplant Immunology theme within the Immune Health Research Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute.

With extensive experience in laboratory-based research, she has contributed to clinical studies involving samples from individuals with chronic respiratory diseases and, more recently, patients with end-stage kidney disease undergoing transplantation. Her research focuses on the molecular characterisation of immune dysfunction across various human diseases. Utilising cutting-edge omics technologies, she aims to uncover distinct immunophenotypes, identify novel diagnostic tools, and drive a precision medicine approach by targeting active molecular mechanisms of disease.

Medical Director of Medical & Interventional Services at John Hunter Hospital

Dr Michael Boyle is an immunologist and Medical Director of the John Hunter Medicine department. He is also a Professor of the University of Newcastle and has extensive experience in the diagnosis and management of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. He received a MD for his research in HIV medicine from the University of New South Wales in 1994. His current interests include Immune deficiency, Autoimmunity and autoinflammatory Disease. He has co-authored numerous articles in these areas and takes a special interest in education and training of junior staff.

 Senior Staff Specialist and Director of Medical Services at John Hunter Hospital

Dr Peter Choi is a Senior Staff Specialist and Director of the Department of Nephrology at John Hunter Hospital.

Dr Choi was trained in Medicine in the United Kingdom and practised as a specialist nephrologist in London for 10 years. He moved to Newcastle in 2013 and has been actively involved in all aspects of kidney care, including chronic kidney disease, hypertension, dialysis, transplantation and non-dialysis conservative care.

He has a special interest in genetic renal diseases, nutritional problems in kidney patients and home dialysis.

Immunologist, NSW Health Pathology, John Hunter Hospital

Theo de Malmanche is Director of the NSW Health Pathology Immunology laboratory in Newcastle, NSW. In addition to being a rheumatologist, Theo also has interests in the immunological aspects of microangiopathy, trauma, encephalopathy, and infection.  As a pathologist, he works to get the best quality results to the most clinicians in a way that is of most use to them and their patients.  Clinical immunology and immunopathology are respective clinical and pathological disciplines which have amongst the highest levels of uncertainty and misunderstanding.  Navigating colleagues and patients through these uncertainties is a primary focus for all immunopathologists.  Immune disorders are relative low frequency / high impact when compared to most pathology, but the cultural change that develops in managing these patients appropriately can often be extended to high frequency / low impact management.

Respiratory Physician, John Hunter Hospital and Newcastle Lung Group

Dr Emily Dunn graduated from The University of Newcastle in 2014.  A Newcastle local, Emily completed her Basic Physician Training through the Hunter New England Local Health District, before undertaking Advanced Training in Respiratory Medicine through the John Hunter, Calvary Mater and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals.  After having obtained her Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Dr Dunn moved to the United Kingdom to accept the position of Senior Clinical Fellow in Interstitial Lung Disease at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.  She held this position for 18 months from 2022 to 2023, before deciding to return home to Newcastle. Since returning to Newcastle Dr Dunn has worked as a Respiratory Staff Specialist at John Hunter Hospital, where she assists in running the ILD service.  

Neuroimmunology Fellow, John Hunter Hospital and MSBase Research Fellow 

Dr Jenny Han is the Neuroimmunology Fellow at John Hunter Hospital and a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle. She is a recipient of the Commonwealth Research Training Program Scholarship and a Clinical and Translational Health Research Program (CTHRP) awardee. In 2025–26, she holds the MSBase Research Fellowship, contributing to both national and international studies focused on multiple sclerosis (MS).

Dr Han is currently training under Professor Jeannette Lechner-Scott in the field of MS and neuroimmunology. Her research focuses on leveraging real-world registry data and predictive modeling to understand long-term MS disease trajectories. Her PhD explores multimodal predictors of MS progression, integrating clinical, radiological, and biomarker data.

She has implemented computer-automated treatment audits and streamlined imaging workflow processes as part of her research. Dr Han also serves as trial coordinator for a 10-year prospective follow-up study on cognitive, imaging, and biomarker outcomes in MS at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), which aligns with her PhD work and MSBase Fellowship.

Dr Han is passionate about transforming long-term outcomes for people with neuroimmunological conditions. She is helping coordinate NEUROTRAC, a research initiative at HMRI aimed at individualized prognostication in MS and is actively seeking further funding opportunities to expand this work.

Director of Rheumatology, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Gabor Major is the Director of Rheumatology at Hunter New England Health.

 He has a broad interest in all aspects of rheumatology with a special affinity for the immune and inflammatory aspects of the multisystem diseases that are at the core of the specialty.

In addition to his clinical involvement, he also maintains an active research interest, with over 70 peer-reviewed publications, many of which centre on immune / inflammatory aspects.

Rheumatologist, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Stephen Oakley is a Staff Specialist Rheumatologist at the John Hunter Hospital. He completed his specialist training as the Biologic therapies became available for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and witnessed the transformation of his practice from a slow losing battle against joint damage to one where complete disease remission is the most common outcome. He has a large caseload of patients with autoimmune diseases and is actively involved in clinical research with Biologic therapies. 

Advanced Trainee in Neurology, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Karly Potts is an Advanced Trainee in Neurology at John Hunter Hospital. She graduated from the University of Queensland in 2019 and spent several years working in rural settings across New South Wales before commencing her training in Newcastle. 

Haematologist, Calvary Mater Hospital and Hunter Blood Group

Dr Kate Rankin is a clinical and laboratory haematologist. She has been working as a consultant in the haematology department at the Calvary Mater Hospital since 2021 and at Hunter Valley Haematology since 2022. She has an interest in a range of areas including thrombosis, bleeding disorders, transfusion, lymphoma, plasma cell disorders and clinical trials.

Staff Specialist Respiratory & Sleep, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Koliarne Tong is a Staff Specialist in Respiratory & Sleep Medicine and the Centre Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Service at John Hunter Hospital. She enjoys caring for patients with all respiratory and sleep conditions but her special interests include CF and non-CF bronchiectasis, complex respiratory failure and non-respiratory sleep medicine. She is also dedicated to optimising the education and training journey for doctors-in-training and is active in research in collaboration with multiple centres across Australia.

Senior Staff Specialist and Transplant Physician, John Hunter Hospital

Dr Eswari Vilayur is a Nephrologist and Transplant Physician at the John Hunter Hospital, with specialist training from John Hunter and Westmead Hospitals. She completed her Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2009 and a Master of Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Newcastle in 2016. Actively involved in research, she has led international clinical trials, published in nephrology and transplantation, and is pursuing a higher research degree at the University of Sydney on improving equity in transplantation. She is also a Senior Conjoint Lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

Staff Specialist in General Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Calvary Mater Newcastle

Paul Wilson is a Staff Specialist in General Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Calvary Mater Newcastle. Dr Wilson was born in Merewether, attended Kotara High and studied at the University of Newcastle. Interests include infection in haematology patients such as febrile neutropenia and invasive fungal infection.

Neurologist, John Hunter Hospital

Professor Jeannette Lechner-Scott is a Senior Staff Specialist in the Department of Neurology, Newcastle, and a conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle.

She is the head of the Neuroimmunology clinic at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and the deputy director of the Immune Health Program in the Hunter Medical Research Program.

Professor Lechner-Scott is on the Board of Directors of MS Plus and MS Australia. She is a member of MSIF and the chief editor of MSARD.

She is the recipient of the 2023 Ian McDonald Award for Outstanding Research in Multiple Sclerosis. She received the award for Research Excellence in 2024 and was nominated for the National MS Research Award bi MS Australia in February 2025.

Her research stretches over various fields (genetics/epigenetics, new MRI technologies, pregnancy, cognition in MS, etc), but always has the person with MS in its centre..