A/Professor Tom Kotsimbos has successfully combined multi-disciplinary specialist training in clinical medicine (Respiratory and Infectious Disease) with a strong commitment to basic science (MD, NHMRC funding, PhD trainees) thereby placing him in an excellent position to initiate and enable translational medical research opportunities and knowledge transfer. In addition he continues to remain very active in outpatient and inpatient clinical medicine and teaching, and is actively engaged in national and international clinical trials and evaluation of novel therapies, interventions and information management systems thereby further facilitating integration and innovation in health care across multiple levels.

Since completion of his MD thesis focusing on “Diagnostic PCR assay development in Respiratory Infectious disease” [University of Melbourne/WEHI] he has been committed to improving the bi-directional flow of knowledge/expertise between the biological sciences and clinical care with the ultimate aim of improving health outcomes. As the Ludwig Engel Research Scholar he undertook post doctoral studies at the Meakins Christie Laboratories McGill University Canada (1995/96), concentrating on combining innovative molecular biology techniques with well phenotyped clinical conditions to investigate inflammatory lung disease (11 publications). In 1997 he returned to Australia to take up a full-time Staff Specialist Physician appointment at The Alfred Hospital where he is currently Associate Professor, Department Medicine, Monash University and Deputy Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis/Lung Transplant services in the Department of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory medicine.

His specialist multi-disciplinary expertise has allowed him to establish an ongoing program of clinical science research involving molecular biology techniques in respiratory disease focusing on “host-organism” interactions, innate and adaptive immune mechanisms and lung injury/repair models in various models of respiratory disease including acute and chronic respiratory viral infection, cystic fibrosis associated chronic bacterial sepsis in the airways and lung allograft pathobiology. In alignment with these interests he has established strong, ongoing, collaborative links with the Infectious Disease Service at the Alfred Hospital/Monash University (with which he was instrumental in implementing a diagnostic and research molecular biology laboratory), the Burnet Institute, and the Departments of Microbiology/Immunology and Pharmacology, Melbourne University. In recognition of his clinical, infectious disease and immunological expertise he was appointed as Head of Infection and Immunity Research in the Dept of Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine in 2007 and is currently responsible for 8 research staff including 2 post doctoral research fellows and 3 PhD students.

Professional Activity

He has been a key member of the ALF & TSANZ Respiratory Infectious Disease Collaborative Group since its inception and as its chairman oversaw the publication of the “Respiratory Infectious Disease Burden in Australia” document in 2007. He has represented the ALF/TSANZ on many matters relating to Respiratory Infectious Disease including the Influenza Specialists Group and Pandemic Influenza Planning committees. In addition, he was appointed chairman of the TSANZ H1N1-09 (“swine flu”) task force. He is regularly invited as a speaker to national and international meetings and is a regular reviewer for the NHMRC and for various high impact journals.

Publications

A/Prof Kotsimbos has over 100 international peer reviewed publications including three book chapters in leading Textbooks in Respiratory Medicine and Science and is a key international figure in respiratory infectious disease (including cystic fibrosis) and advanced lung disease (transplantation) research.