The Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory (MDU PHL) established in 1897, is the longest continuously serving public health laboratory in Australia. It is located within the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne and is primarily funded by the Victorian Department of Health.
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Overview
MDU PHL undertakes reference microbiology testing for notifiable pathogens and organisms of public health significance, including surveillance of foodborne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, invasive bacterial pathogens, and sexually transmitted infections.
The team at MDU PHL comprises highly skilled scientists, medical microbiologists, bioinformaticians and genomic epidemiologists dedicated to developing best-practice approaches to public health microbiology. MDU PHL has capacity and expertise in pathogen genomics, providing leadership and guidance in the establishment of sequencing workflows, advice and capacity-building for bioinformatics, and assistance with the integration of genomic and epidemiological data to investigate local outbreaks.
The national and regional work undertaken by MDU PHL is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government Department of Health, World Health Organization, and the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
MDU PHL’s efforts in implementing integrated public health pathogen genomics is recognised internationally by organisations such as World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health England (PHE), the Public Health Alliance for Genomics Epidemiology (PH4AGE), National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) Singapore, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and US Center for Disease Control (CDC). MDU PHL is a designated World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Reference Laboratory for Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases (IB-VPD). -
Vision and mission statement
The Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory works to provide the highest quality microbiological services to identify, investigate and control current and emerging public health threats posed by infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance and biological agents of security concern.
The Laboratory provides expertise in public health and clinical microbiology, infectious diseases, infection control, epidemiology, genomics and bioinformatics to achieve its mission and strengthen public health surveillance and response. -
Core capacities
Pathogen Genomics
MDU PHL was the first PHL in Australia accredited for genomic testing of pathogens (ISO15187 standard). MDU is Victoria’s pathogen genomics public health laboratory and is a national leader in implementing next-generation technology into the public health system for characterisation and surveillance of state and nationally notifiable pathogens, and other pathogens of public health significance. MDU PHL is the coordinator of the Communicable Diseases Genomics Network and leads the national genomics surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 for Australia via AusTrakka.
Bioinformatics and Genomic Epidemiology
MDU PHL have recruited a nationally leading team of bioinformaticians who liaise with the laboratory in the development of bioinformatic analysis pipelines and genomic epidemiologists who conduct epidemiological analyses and report on pathogens of public health significance. MDU PHL provides genomic data, interpretation and advice to all state and national departments of health as well as supporting the Oceania region through genomic surveillance and investigation.
Foodborne
In close collaboration with the Victorian Department of Health, MDU investigates foodborne pathogen outbreaks to inform source acquisition and transmission of disease spread and contributes to legal case management when required. MDU also runs national pathogen genomic surveillance programs for Listeria and Hepatitis A, and is NATA accredited for Environmental, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, Animal Pathology testing (ISO/IEC 17025).
Infection control and advice
MDU PHL has been providing infection prevention and control (IPC) advice and support to the Communicable Diseases (CD) section at the Department of Health (DH) for over 20 years. Settings for which IPC advice is provided include non-acute healthcare facilities (for example, GP and dental clinics) and other community-based practices, such as beauty therapists and tattoo artists. Advice and support provided includes:
- Public health investigations into issues, such as, blood borne virus transmissions, unregistered premises and IPC breaches in health facilities
- Development and implementation of DH guidelines, for example, the Infection prevention and control guidelines for hair, beauty, tattooing and skin penetration (2019)
- Participation in surveillance and response activities for notifiable conditions, such as, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), carbapenemase-producing organisms and Candida auris
- COVID-19 response.
More recently, MDU PHL have been involved in several projects to strengthen preparedness and response to AMR issues in the Asia-Pacific region. These include provision of IPC expertise, development and review of guidance and SOPs, and support for capacity building and training programs.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and One Health
MDU PHL is accredited for Animal Pathology (ISO/IEC 17025) and is a registered Veterinary and Biological Diagnostic Laboratory.
Regional partnerships
MDU PHL is the WHO Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases Regional Reference Laboratory that provides diagnostic testing and genomic sequencing services to several countries across the Asia-Pacific and South East Asia Region. MDU PHL supports capacity building in reference laboratories in diagnostic testing, pathogen genomics and surveillance of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance to improve global health and build equitable access to public health across the Asia-Pacific and South East Asia Region.
Outbreak response
MDU PHL assists the Victorian Department of Health with rapid responses to outbreaks of foodborne and waterborne investigations, antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, environmental contamination e.g., in healthcare facilities, and other pathogens. During investigations MDU PHL analyse specimens and samples that are collected by the department and local government officers, or are submitted to MDU PHL by others, such as primary laboratories as part of investigations.
Sexually transmitted infections
MDU PHL operate the onsite laboratory for the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, providing efficient and accurate diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections.
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Quality management
We are committed to providing an efficient, effective, accurate, consistent and timely service to our clients.
We integrate the principles of ISO/IEC 17025 and AS/ISO 15189 into the management of MDU PHL to facilitate continuous quality improvement.
It is the responsibility of each staff member to reflect on and evaluate our processes and outputs, to meet these quality objectives.
Together we can achieve and maintain the highest level of professionalism and provide a legally robust service that will benefit the public’s health. -
NATA accreditation
We are accredited with National Associated of Testing Authorities (NATA) for testing of Environmental, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Media products, Legal management – Forensic operations module, Animal Pathology (under ISO/IEC 17025) and Human Pathology (under ISO 15189).
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Our history
As Melbourne grew quickly into a large city by world standards in the 1880s, all manner of waste was dumped into open street channels, which ran into the Yarra River and Hobsons Bay, polluted waterways and caused epidemics of fatal typhoid and diphtheria.
In 1890 a Royal Commission into the unsanitary conditions in Melbourne identified a need for a specialist laboratory in Victoria to carry out bacteriological examinations, along with its recommendation for a sewage farm that led to the development of the Western Treatment Plant at Werribee. The Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory (formerly also known as Public Health Laboratory and Bacteriology Laboratory) was established in 1897, the same year that the first Melbourne homes were connected to the sewerage system.
We are the longest continuously serving public health laboratory in Australia.
Photograph of the original service contract with the Department of Health
The team
Professor Ben Howden
Director of the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory
Dr Norelle Sherry
Acting Deputy Director, Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Physician
Dr Susan Ballard
Principal Scientist
Associate Professor Torsten Seemann
Lead Bioinformatician
Selena Heaton
Operations Manager and Section Leader for the Quality Team
Tuyet Hoang
Portfolio Manager for Pathogen Genomics
Chantel Lin
Program Manager for Antimicrobial Resistance and Genomics
Mary Valcanis
Enteric Reference Laboratory Section Leader
Kerrie Stevens
Reference, Unusual Pathogens and Resistance (RUPR) Section Leader
Karolina Mercoulia
Food, Environment and Outbreak Response (FEOR) Group Section Leader
Vesna De Petra
Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic (MSHC) Laboratory Section Leader and a member of the MDU Quality Team
Dr Kristy Horan
Bioinformatics Section Leader
Dr Michelle Sait
Molecular Diagnostics Section Leader
Mathilda Wilmot
Acting Epidemiology Section Leader
The Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory offers a range of laboratory services.
Laboratory Services
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Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics at MDU PHL is responsible for quality control, management and analysis of microbial whole genome sequence data. Bioinformatic develop and implement tools and pipelines which characterise of bacterial pathogens, detect of virulence and antimicrobial resistance determinants and contribute to outbreak investigations employing phylogenomic methods. Our team has expertise in computer science, clinical epidemiology, clinical infectious diseases, evolutionary biology, and microbiology.
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Enteric Reference Laboratory
The Enteric Reference Laboratory (ERL) provides national reference and surveillance laboratory services for human, animal, food and environmental enteric bacterial pathogens. Confirmation and characterisation is performed using a combination of traditional and molecular typing methods.
Typing results and analyses allow the ERL to detect clusters, identify outbreaks or exotic isolates, which inform public health authorities for targeted responses and interventions in food and waterborne investigations.
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Epidemiology
Epidemiology staff perform data analyses on surveillance typing and antimicrobial susceptibility data for special projects and multi-jurisdictional outbreaks, and co-ordinate the Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales Surveillance and Response Unit (VCRSU); the Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (VHPSS); the National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (NEPSS) and MDU PHL activities as a WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for the Invasive Bacterial – Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program (IB-VPD).
Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae Surveillance and Response Unit (VCRSU)
The Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) Surveillance and Response Unit was implemented in 2015 in response to increasing detection of CPE in Victoria. All Victorian CPE isolates are referred to MDU PHL for confirmation and genomic analysis. In conjunction with the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services and VICNISS, patients are interviewed and case records reviewed to ascertain possible transmission routes, with infection control intervention to prevent further spread.
Antibiograms of Victorian carbapenemase-producing organisms. This document outlines the observed antimicrobial resistance patterns in Victorian carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter isolates received at MDU PHL from July 1 2020 by species and carbapenemase gene. This document outlines the observed antimicrobial resistance patterns specifically for NDM-1 producing Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter isolates received at MDU PHL from 1st January 2019. These documents may assist clinicians in guideline development and empirical therapy for the treatment of patients with suspected infection with a carbapenemase-producing organism.
The Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (VHPSS)
The Victorian Hospital Pathogens Surveillance Scheme is a laboratory-based surveillance program for bacterial and fungal isolates from bloodstream infections and meningitis. The scheme was established in 1988 with contributors including metropolitan and regional laboratories throughout.
National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme (NEPSS)
The National Enteric Pathogens Surveillance Scheme was established in 1978 to provide a repository of data on enteric pathogens isolated from human gastrointestinal and extraintestinal infections and from various non-human sources such as animals, animal feed, food, food ingredients, water and environmental samples. This supports the monitoring and control of endemic and epidemic human infection with enteric pathogens throughout Australia.
The WHO Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program
The WHO Invasive Bacterial-Vaccine Preventable Diseases Program aims to enhance laboratory diagnosis of patients with bacterial meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis or Streptococcus pneumoniae. MDU PHL is a Regional Reference Laboratory in the Western Pacific Region and assists with regional training and quality control of bacterial detection and typing assays, as well as providing sequencing of internationally referred samples.
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Food environment and Outbreak Response
The Food, Environment and Outbreak Response (FEOR) Section provides analytical microbiology services to support public health outbreak investigations and the Victorian Department of Health surveillance programs. The science knowledge includes the specific disciplines of food, water and environmental microbiology and associated processing, hygiene and public health safety.
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Molecular Diagnostics, Development and Informatics
The Molecular Diagnostics, Development and Informatics (MDDI) section provides a comprehensive range of genomic technologies for the molecular detection and characterisation of clinical, foodborne and environmental pathogens. Our services include:
- NAAT of microorganisms and primary specimens
- WHO regional reference laboratory for vaccine preventable, invasive bacterial diseases
- Fragment analysis for genotyping (MLVA for S. Typhimurium)
- Next Generation Sequencing/whole genome sequencing
- Sanger Sequencing
The core application of MDDI in conjunction with Bioinformatics is communicable diseases genomics. This is the application of whole genome sequencing (WGS) to the characterisation of pathogens for the purpose of informing public health surveillance and investigation of communicable diseases. Employing SBS chemistry on the Illumina NextSeq and MiSeq platforms, our robotic WGS sequencing pipeline can process up to 500 bacterial isolates per week using Illumina paired end sequencing with read lengths ranging from 75 to 300 bases. This is used for resistome detection, identification of unusual pathogens, genotyping and phylogenomics for outbreak detection and cluster analysis. Additionally, we support the research activities of DAMG with custom applications including metagenomics of clinical samples, population analysis and gene discovery.
We also offer tours of the facility are provided and training programs in Whole Genome Sequencing of Bacteria targeted to Clinicians, Medical Scientists and Epidemiologists. Please contact us for details on future tour and course dates.
To use our molecular diagnostic service or to submit samples for whole genome sequencing please download the relevant Sample Submission Form, complete and return to MDU PHL with your sample as per the delivery address. Further details can be found in our Sample Submission Guidelines. For further information on WGS, sample processing and analysis and for a quote on Next Generation Sequencing services please contact us.
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Melbourne Sexual Health Centre
The Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) specialises in sexual health, specifically through testing, treatment and management of Sexually Transmissible Infections (STIs). The onsite laboratory, operated by the Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, provides the laboratory focus for the primary testing and analysis of microbiological samples for sexual healthinfections, received from patients attending the MSHC. Being on site, the laboratory can provide on the spot diagnosis of some infections. Tests include detection of:
- Chlamydia trachomatis (including LGV)
- Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- Trichomonas vaginalis
- Mycoplasma genitalium
- Treponema pallidum
- Candida albicans
- Bacterial vaginosis
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Reference, Unusual Pathogens and Resistance
The Reference, Unusual Pathogens and Resistance Section (RUPR) undertakes phenotypic and genotypic analysis to enable the detection and characterisation of bacterial pathogens associated with notifiable diseases and uncommon or difficult to identify bacteria from human or veterinary origin.
Laboratory based surveillance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis is conducted as part of the Australian Gonococcal and Meningococcal Surveillance programs.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Enterobacterales, Enterococci and Staphylococci is also undertaken to support the national Critical Antimicrobial Resistance Alert (CARAlert) program and the Victorian Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae Surveillance and Response Unit (VCRSU).
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Translational Research
MDU PHL has an active research programme program covering areas such as the clinical and molecular epidemiology of enteric infections, antimicrobial resistance, vaccine-preventable bacterial diseases and sexually-transmitted infections. In addition, Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics is a recently established research initiative working in the area of public health and clinical microbiology, and is situated within MDU PHL.
Quality Management
- Human Pathology (ISO15189)
- Animal Pathology (ISO/IEC 17025)
- Environmental, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical and Media products (SIO/IEC 17025)
- Forensic Operations Module (under ISO/IEC17025)
Forms Available for Download
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Sample Collection and Transport Guidelines
All samples must be labelled with:
- Minimum of two identifiers.
- Date of sample collection and sample source is essential.
- Samples must be sent as per NPAAC REQUIREMENTS FOR THEPACKAGING AND TRANSPORT OF PATHOLOGY SPECIMENS AND ASSOCIATED MATERIALS (Fourth Edition 2013)
DownloadFM2664 (MDU Sample Transport Guidelines)
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Request Forms
All request forms sent electronically must comply with the Privacy Act 1988, Health Records Act (Victoria) 2001 and the Information Privacy Act (Victoria) .
Click on Button to download a copy of the MDU Privacy Policy Download
FM Number Request Form Name FM108 VHPSS Request Form Download FM110 Human NEPSS Request Form Download FM111 Non-Human NEPSS Request Form Download FM116 HS Public Health Investigations Specimens Download FM117 WT Water Samples Download FM118 FD Food, Food Ingredient and Packaging Specimens Download FM119 HC Human Clinical Download FM123 General Specimens Request Form Download FM377 MDU PHL CBR Chain of Custody Form Download FM935 MDU Internal Chain of Custody Form Download FM979 MDU PHL General Chain of Custody Form Download FM1045 Legionella Chain of Custody Form Download FM1062 NS Neisseria cultures Request Form Download FM1541 Food and Water Chain of Custody Form Download FM1698 Request Form - Cryptosporidium typing Download FM1716 VIFM Request and Chain of Custody Form Download FM1718 Sealed Primary Container Description form Download FM1851 Culture Referral from Meat and Meat products Download FM1856 Food Act s23 Form Download FM1885 EV Environmental Samples, Swabs and Equipment Download FM2085 L monocytogenes Molecular Subtyping Download FM2159 VPFS Request and Chain of Custody Form Download FM2458 Carbapenemase detection, Human isolates Request Form Download FM2609 Enviromental Surveillance Sampling for CT and NG rRNA Download FM2634 Request Form – WGS Download FM2634 WGS-electronic download 2-COVID Download FM2673 DNA Bacterial Isolates for sequencing Download FM2680 Pathology Request Form Download FM2699 Carbapenemase detection Environmental samples Request Form Download FM2713 Superbugs Project Request Form Download FM2728 Traveller's Diarrhoea Metagenomics Study PR2017-004 Download FM2739 Research samples Request Form Download FM2753 Multiple Human Clinical Isolates Request Form Download FM2784 iGas_Eastern Study Request Form Download FM2787 Phylogeny and Analysis of Whole Genome Sequence data Download FM2794 CDGNA Interjurisdictional AMR Genomic Surveillance Poject Download FM2810 Pathology Request_Mgen Download FM2845 Clinical Samples-Covid19 Download FM2871 Spit Study PR2020_014 CIRQIT Download FM2871 Spit Study PR2020_014 cohealth Download FM2875 Innovative Testing Project - Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 Download FM2876 Innovative Testing Project - Credo VitaPCR SARS-CoV-2 Download FM2877 Innovative Testing Project - SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test Download FM2915 Request form-WGS International Covid Samples Download FM2921 Request Form - BARISTA Study Download FM2923 MSD Gram negative ICU study PR2021_010 Download FM2929 Staphylococcal Snap Trial PR2021_014 Download FM2935 COVID-19 WGS request form - minimal data Download FM2936 Request form - COVID Healthcare worker genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis Download FM2941 Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (vanA) referral - single isolate Download FM2942 Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (vanA) referral - multiple isolates Download
NATA Accreditation
We are accredited with NATA for Biological, Veterinary (to ISO 17025), Medical Testing (to ISO 15189) and to the Forensic Operations Module.
The Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory has active research programs nationally and internationally, covering areas such as the clinical and molecular epidemiology of enteric infections, antimicrobial resistance, vaccine-preventable bacterial diseases and sexually-transmitted infections.
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State
Pathogen Genomics Implementation Program
In 2018, the Victorian Department of Health funded MDU PHL to undertake a large-scale pathogen genomics project focusing on transitioning traditional laboratory processes to whole-genome sequences for a range of state and national notifiable pathogens. The project aims to embed pathogen genomics into standard practices and maintains the collaborative relationship with the department which is critical in harnessing the full benefits of the technology and to date has yielded significant public health benefit to the state. The investment in MDU PHL provided critical preparedness capacity, enabling MDU PHL to be one of the first laboratories in Australia to develop SARS-CoV-2 sequencing capacity very early in the pandemic which has now been scaled up to rapid whole-genome sequencing of all Victorian cases. This project has significantly enhanced Victoria’s capacity to provide a safe and accurate public health microbiology service, enabling MDU PHL to support other jurisdictions and countries in their implementation of pathogen genomics for public health.
Innovative Testing Program
The COVID-19 Innovative Testing Program is a Victorian Department of Health funded initiative in collaboration with MDU PHL and the Victorian Infection Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) at the Doherty Institute. This program aims to rapidly explore and scale novel testing modalities that are clinically and operationally appropriate to support the Victorian testing strategy and comprises two key domains:
- Optimising the ‘gold-standard PCR’ using methods such as saliva sampling and pooling
- Validating and pilot testing near point of care rapid molecular and antigen tests
Victorian Department of Health Partnership Grant
Funded by the Commonwealth National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Grant, ‘An evidence based framework for Establishing Microbial Public Health Genomics in Australia’ (2018 -2022) is a collaborative translational research project led by MDU PHL, implemented in partnership with the Victorian Department of Health and industry partner, Illumina Pty Ltd. The project aims to define the genomic characteristics and population structure of pathogens, and develop species-specific analytical pipelines for pathogens falling into four major communicable diseases themes:
- Antimicrobial resistance and invasive bacterial pathogens
- Sexually transmitted infections
- Foodborne disease
- Environmental pathogens
The project is also supported by an Evaluation Team to evaluate the utility and benefits in using genomics to track communicable diseases, and an Informatics and Platforms team to support development and implementation of bioinformatics tools.
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National
Communicable Diseases Genomics Network (CDGN)
The Communicable Diseases Genomics Network (CDGN) was established in 2015 and is a Commonwealth funded network of genomics-enabled public health laboratories coordinated by MDU PHL, and includes all states and territories in Australia and New Zealand. The CDGN aims to ensure rapid translation of pathogen genomics into public health through the facilitation of genomic sequencing data and knowledge, including antimicrobial resistance pathogens and other pathogens of outbreak significance, in a collaborative and responsible manner to improve public health activities nationally.
AusTrakka
AusTrakka is a Commonwealth-funded central, secure, and private online location to share, analyse and view aggregated national pathogen genomic data from Australia and New Zealand. Public health laboratories across all states and territories have access to AusTrakka and are routinely uploading genomic sequences for nationally notifiable pathogens for real-time surveillance and tracking of transmission between jurisdictions. The platform was developed by A/Prof Torsten Seemann and Dr Anders Goncalves da Silva, MDU PHL, and is Australia’s first real-time national genomics surveillance platform.
Australian Pathogen Genomics Program
The Australian Pathogen Genomics (AusPathoGen) Program is a large scale integrated public health pathogen genomics research program funded by the Commonwealth Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) that will demonstrate the utility, cost-effectiveness, and capacity for translation of genomics into public health nationally. The program will deploy the national genomic platform (AusTrakka), for consistent analysis and reporting, and will collaborate with health departments and public health laboratories to implement national genomics-based responses to major infectious diseases, focusing on respiratory and vaccine preventable diseases, foodborne diseases, sexually transmitted infections and antimicrobial resistance.
MRFF COVID-19 Genomics Grant
The Tracking COVID-19 in Australia using Genomics Grant is a research program funded by the Commonwealth Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to address the urgent need for national implementation of SARS-CoV-2 genomics in Australia, to better understand the behaviour, spread and evolution of the virus using next-generation sequencing technology
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International
COMBAT-AMR
COMBAT-AMR works in partnership with government, National AMR Committees and public health counterparts in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, to implement capacity building and training activities to support the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance and management of AMR pathogens, under the framework of National AMR Action Plans and priorities. COMBAT-AMR is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security.
Fleming Fund
The Fleming Fund is a £265 million UK aid investment to tackle antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The program is managed by the UK Department of Health and Social Care, in partnership with Mott MacDonald, the Fleming Fund Grants Management Agent. As a host institution under the Fleming Fund Scheme, the Doherty Institute Fleming Fund Fellowships offer a program of on-the-job training, mentoring and professional development to improve the capability and capacity of in-country institutions and staff to respond to the threat of antimicrobial resistance across human and animal health. The Doherty Institute is currently running programs in Bhutan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance
The WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance works under the leadership of the WHO, particularly the Western Pacific Regional Office, to strengthen and build antimicrobial stewardship and laboratory capacity for diagnosis and surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Based at the Doherty Institute, in Melbourne, Australia, the Centre is one of 30 designated AMR Collaborating Centres worldwide in place to support the WHO with activities to prevent, detect and monitor, and respond to AMR.
Representation
MDU PHL are represented on the below national and international committees and organisations, ensuring broad engagement across current discussions relevant to MDU’s core capacities.
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State
- Victorian Government One Health AMR Strategic Committee
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National
- Australian Group for Antimicrobial Resistance (AGAR) Gram negative Sepsis Outcome Programme (GNSOP) Research Committee
- Australian Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (ASTAG)
- Communicable Diseases Genomics Network (CDGN)
- Joint PHLN and Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) Expert Advisory Group on COVID-19 Emerging Testing Technologies
- Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN)
- Public Laboratory Network of Australia Expert Advisory Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
- Standards Australia Food Microbiology Water Microbiology technical committees (including ISO working groups)
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International
- Center for New Antibacterial Strategies, The Arctic University of Norway
- Fleming Fund EQAsia Program
- Member of the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA
- PHA4GE Steering Committee
- Public Health Alliance for Genomic Epidemiology
- PulseNet International Steering Committee
- WHO informal high-level technical expert group on strengthening regional genome sequencing capacity and strategic use of genomic evidence for public health action in the south-east Asian region (SEAR)
- WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Centres Network
- WHO Steering Group for the development of a landscape analysis for application of WGS in AMR surveillance
Our collaborators
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State
Victorian Department of Health
Burnet Institute
University of Melbourne Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences
Victorian Health Care Providers
Victorian State Pathology Laboratories
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
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National
Australian Government Department of Health
Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
OzFoodNet
Communicable Diseases Genomics Network (CDGN)
Public Health Laboratory Network (PHLN)
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory
Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA)
Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC)
- International
Find us
Address:
Microbiological Diagnostic Unit, Level 1,
Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne,
792 Elizabeth St Melbourne 3000
Email: mdu-general@unimelb.edu.au
Phone: +61 3 8344 5701
Opening Hours: Weekdays: 8.45am – 5.00pm
For specific enquiries, please contact the below core theme leads:
- Core public health laboratory services (Victorian and national programs)
- Susan Ballard
- E: susan.ballard@unimelb.edu.au
- Doherty Applied Microbial Genomics (DAMG)
- Pathogen Genomics (national and international programs)
- Tuyet Hoang
- E: Tuyet.hoang@unimelb.edu.au
- Antimicrobial Resistance (national and international programs)
- Chantel Lin
- E: chantel.lin@unimelb.edu.au
Feedback
Microbiological Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory 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 submitting a message in the below form.