Australia’s trusted immunisation experts
11 September 2025 | NewsThere’s a new vaccine for pneumococcal disease in Australia. Here’s what to knowRead the full article
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.
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.
Emma Goeman is an infectious diseases specialist paediatrician and clinical microbiologist who has worked in diverse urban, rural and remote settings in Victoria, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. She is a Senior Medical Officer in the Clinical Research and Services Teams, including the NSW Immunisation Specialist Service, NCIRS. She has an honorary appointment as a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney, is a Staff Specialist and Medical Lead for the Opportunistic Child Immunisation Service at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, and works as a clinical microbiologist for Australian Clinical Labs. Emma’s special interests include contributing to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, forensic microbiology and clinical operationalisation of immunisation programs.
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 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.
