Influenza vaccination in 2026: a new era of protection

Kristine Macartney is a paediatrician and infectious disease specialist. She is a medical graduate of the University of NSW and has over 20 years of experience in vaccinology.

She has experience working in the US at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was a founding member of the US Vaccine Education Center. Her Doctorate of Medicine was on rotavirus infection, in particular the mucosal immune response to novel vaccine candidates. She is interested in all aspects of vaccine preventable disease research, particularly policy development, vaccine safety and prevention of viral diseases. She is the Senior Editor of the Australian Immunisation Handbook. Kristine is a Staff Specialist in Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and has a conjoint academic appointment as Professor in the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Sydney.

Allen Cheng is Director of Infectious Diseases at Monash Health and Professor in the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University. Previously, Allen was Chair of the Advisory Committee for Vaccines (2017–22), Co-Chair of ATAGI (2018–21), Deputy Victorian Chief Health Officer (2020–21) and a member of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (2020–22). He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2025 for eminent service to medicine as an epidemiologist. 

Suzanna McDonald is a public health leader with more than 20 years’ experience spanning vaccine policy, global health emergencies, translational research and clinical trials. She served as a WHO technical advisor, a subject matter expert for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the European Commission, and as the WHO lead scientist in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic, where her work directly informed national and international guidelines. Previously, Suzanna was a lecturer and co-Principal Investigator at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she led a WHO‑funded clinical trial in The Gambia. She trained as an infectious disease immunologist, holds a PhD in Immunology from Bart’s & the London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society for Public Health. 

Katie Flanagan is a clinician scientist who has worked on global health issues for more than 25 years. She has led numerous vaccine immunology trials throughout the world, including trials of novel malaria and HIV vaccines in African infants and trials of the immunological effects of commonly used vaccines in young and older people. Katie holds academic positions as Clinical Professor at the University of Tasmania and Adjunct Professor at RMIT University in Melbourne. 

Tiffany is a Clinical Nurse Consultant and Midwife experienced in delivering community and school-based immunisation programs and providing vaccinations across the lifespan, with a particular focus on infants and children. Previously, Tiffany worked as a Registered Nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a specialist nurse in Travel Medicine and Immunisation at the Fleet Street Clinic in London, UK, and as a Nurse Immuniser and Senior Nurse Immuniser with Brisbane City Council Immunisation. Tiffany holds a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Southern Queensland, a Master of Midwifery from Griffith University and National Immunisation Education Program for Health Professionals at the Australian Catholic University.