Centre for Pathogen Genomics
Building and supporting collaborative opportunities for research, genomics-enhanced infectious disease surveillance, and capacity building and training.
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Overview
The Centre for Pathogen Genomics at the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne is an academic and training hub to support collaboration between complementary groups working in the area of pathogen genomics to promote opportunities for research, capacity building and training across infectious diseases preparedness and response.
Partnering with the University of Melbourne’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health and the Nossal Institute for Global Health, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Burnet Institute and Monash University, the Centre will draw upon this expertise to deliver key activities focused on the use and access to pathogen genomics for research and public health.
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Our Team
Executive Group
Professor Ben Howden
Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory
Professor Tim Stinear
Deputy Head, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Professor Deborah Williamson
Director of Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
Dr Michelle WilleSenior Research Fellow
Dr Lisa Ioannidis
Centre Coordinator
Centre Team
Dr Claire Gorrie
Research Fellow, Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory
Associate Professor Torsten Seemann
Lead Bioinformatician, Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory
Courtney Lane
Genomic Epidemiologist
Tuyet Hoang
Strategy and Governance Manager
Chantel Lin
Implementation and Partnerships Manager
Dr Louise Judd
Genomics Research and Training Laboratory Lead
Hasini Walpola
Genomics Training Specialist
Dr Angeline Ferdinand
Evaluation Research Fellow
Rahul Ratwatte
Communications Officer
Navin Karan
Training and Capacity Manager, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
Jean Moselen
Senior Medical Scientist, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
Mitch Batty
Project Officer and Medical Scientist, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
Jacqueline Prestedge
Research Program Officer, Williamson Group
- University of Melbourne and Doherty Institute Partners
- Research Alliance Partners
- Funding Partners
- International Collaborators
The Centre for Pathogen Genomics coordinates research and activities via a number of networks and programs.
Training
The Centre for Pathogen Genomics has a dedicated genomics research training facility with an established framework to build laboratory, bioinformatics, and epidemiology capabilities in public health laboratories and research institutions across the Asia-Pacific. This training is tailored to align with the specific context of each country or jurisdiction and their broader policy frameworks. The Centre’s training approach also ensures that the implementation of training activities is sustainable and knowledge transfer is achieved through a train the trainer model.
The Centre’s capacity building and training initiatives encourage an internationally networked approach to build communities of practice across countries or sites, and support the implementation of genomics-enabled surveillance of infectious diseases.
Upcoming training

Applied Pathogen Genomics - Melbourne MicroCert series
This series is designed for infectious diseases professionals seeking practical skills in the groundbreaking areas of pathogen genomics and bioinformatics. Taught by leading genomics experts, it will equip participants with the capacity to analyse and use genomic data in their own practice. There are four distinct courses covering key topic areas in the field of Microbial genomics.
Get in touch
Contact the Centre team via the below email address.
Email: centre-PathoGen@unimelb.edu.au
Feedback
The Centre for Pathogen Genomics seeks your feedback as part of our ongoing commitment to quality and continuous improvement.
We encourage you to actively help us improve the delivery of our services to all our customers by contacting the team via email.