Professor Nicholas Wood MBBS, DCH, MPH, FRACP
Associate Director, Clinical Research and Services – Executive Management Team
Senior Staff Specialist
Dr Lucy Deng MBBS, DCH, MIPH, FRACP
Staff Specialist/Clinical Lecturer – Vaccine Safety (including AusVaxSafety)
Dr Ketaki Sharma MBBS, MPH, FRACP
Staff Specialist/Clinical Lecturer – Research to Inform Policy
Dr Archana Koirala MBChB, DCH, MIPH, FRACP
Staff Specialist/Clinical Associate Lecturer

Archana Koirala is a paediatric infectious disease specialist and general  paediatrician who joined NCIRS in 2018. She is part of the New South Wales Immunisation Specialist Service (NSWISS) team and reviews children who have experienced an adverse event following immunisation. She has a special interest in using genomics to understand vaccine preventable diseases.

Dr Rama Kandasamy
Staff Specialist/Lecturer

Rama Kandasamy joined NCIRS in February 2020. Rama is a paediatrician, newly awarded NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow and lecturer at the University of New South Wales. His research interests include infectious diseases in children and the use of vaccines to prevent them, with a focus on childhood pneumonia.

Dr Emma Goeman MBBS (Hons) BA MPHTM FRACP FRCPA
Staff Specialist

Emma Goeman is an infectious diseases physician and clinical microbiologist who joined NCIRS in October 2021.  

Dr Ben Smith BMedSci, MBBS, DCH, FRACP
Staff Specialist

Ben Smith is an infectious diseases specialist and general paediatrician. He joined NCIRS in January 2021 and is involved in vaccine clinical trials and policy work.

Dr Tamishka De Silva MBBS DCH
Provisional Fellow

Tamishka De Silva joined NCIRS in 2023. She is a dual trainee in general paediatrics and community child health and has undertaken her training through the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network.

Rosemary Joyce RN
Research Clinical Nurse Consultant

Rosemary Joyce is a registered nurse and midwife with postgraduate certification in immunisation, neonatal intensive care and has also worked as a Rehabilitation Consultant Case Manager. Rosemary joined NCIRS in 2006 and is working as a clinical trials nurse investigating both paediatric and adult vaccines. Rosemary is currently working on studies investigating the pertussis vaccine, and is a member of the NSWISS team.

Ajay Jadhav
Research Clinical Nurse Consultant 

Ajay Jadjav is a registered nurse with a variety of experience in the public and private sector. He is currently working towards his postgraduate certificate in immunisation. Ajay has worked at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead for 7 years in the perioperative department. He has also previously worked as Research Nurse and Clinical Research Coordinator at the Save Sight Institute.

Katrina Sterling
Research Nurse

Katrina Sterling joined NCIRS in 2021 after working at Westmead Children's Hospital for the past 3 years in different areas. She has spent majority of her nursing career in the Emergency Department at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. Katrina has also previously worked as a  midwife in various parts of Northern Australia. She also currently works at a private urgent care centre called WISE. Katrina has a special interest in vaccine preventable diseases and research. 

Jodie Watt RN
Research Nurse

Jodie Watt joined NCIRS as a Research Nurse in July 2023 after working at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead as a Registered Nurse in a surgical neonatal intensive care unit since 2019. She has previously worked as a surveillance nurse with the PAEDS team. She has completed a nursing research honours degree focusing on the transition from neonatal to paediatric services and is an Authorised Nurse Immuniser.

Twingle Daniel 
Research Assistant

Twingle Daniel is currently pursuing a PhD at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research with the Translational Breast Cancer Genomics Group. Her research topic is aimed at the discovery and development of novel precision medicine tools for breast cancer. Twingle completed her undergraduate degree majoring in human anatomy and physiology and did an honours year researching in the development of prognosticating tools for Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer.

Lilly Moran BSc
Research Assistant

Lilly Moran joined NCIRS in November 2021. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree from the Australian National University, majoring in human biology and specialising in biomedical science. Lilly has a special interest in cell and molecular biology, immunology and microbiology. 

Fatima Gondalwala
Research Assistant

Fatima Gondalwala joined NCIRS in May 2022. She completed an honours degree from the University of Sydney that focused on a novel communication method between cancer cells and fibroblasts.

Belinda Smith BSc
EA to Associate Professor Nick Wood

Belinda Smith joined NCIRS in June 2022. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Medical Science) degree. She has previously worked in pathology units in rural NSW and the UK, specialising in biochemistry. Belinda has also worked with the Royal North Shore Hospital's Department of Hand Surgery and Peripheral Nerve Surgery coordinating research. 

Last updated March 2024