Monash medical student’s research recognised at world meeting of paediatric infectious diseases

Ben Cailes and Assoc Prof Jim Buttery,
NICU at Monash Medical Centre

School of Clinical Sciences’ medical student Ben Cailes will present two abstracts at the Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) next month in Brighton, UK.

Ben completed his Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honours) last year at St George’s Hospital University of London, where he analysed UK neonatal unit data to monitor the epidemiology of neonatal infection.

His research efforts resulted in Ben successfully submitting two abstracts to the world’s largest Meeting of paediatric infectious diseases.

“My research project was centred on collecting and analysing data from over 30 UK neonatal units dating back to 2004,” said Ben.

“Our aim was to identify epidemiological trends in the pathogens which cause neonatal sepsis and the rates of antimicrobial resistance exhibited by these organisms.”

One of Ben’s submitted abstracts received a ‘top score’ from ESPID and he will give a 10 minute presentation on the epidemiology of neonatal infections in the UK.

“I will also give a 7 minute presentation on my other abstract, focusing on the pathogen Coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) and potential methods for distinguishing cases of true CoNS septicaemia from cases where CoNS from the skin flora have contaminated the blood culture,” said Ben.

Ben said it is a great honour to have his work from last year recognised, particularly given the size and importance of the ESPID conference in the field of paediatric infectious diseases.

“I am very excited at the prospect of being able to share my findings with interested and highly-informed audiences and I look forward to what will undoubtedly be a challenging but rewarding experience.”

“I would also like to thank my supervisor Associate Professor Jim Buttery, Monash Children's Hospital and my co-supervisor Professor Paul Heath, St George's Hospital University of London as this would not have been possible without their hard work and support.”

"Ben's research utilised data from NeoNIN (neonin.co.uk), an international collaborative neonatal network focussed on reducing and improving care of infections in neonatal intensive care units (NICU)," said Associate Professor Jim Buttery, Department of Paediatrics at Monash University and Director of Research, Monash Children's Hospital. 

"This important work will be followed up by another BMedSc student in 2016, Joanna Wang, who will focus on identifying preventable risk factors for enterococcal infections in NICU."

Monash Children’s Hospital is also a member of NeoNIN, which is led by Paul Heath, a Monash University graduate and Professor of Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of London.

Ben and the research team aim to publish their results in a peer-reviewed journal later this year, adding to a review article on this topic Ben published last year in Early Human Development.  Read his article here.