About us

AusVaxSafety is Australia’s active vaccine safety surveillance system that monitors side effects – referred by healthcare professionals as adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) – in Australia.

AusVaxSafety collects data through an online survey from people after they receive vaccines. These data help generate safety information about vaccines used in real-world conditions that complements and expands on what we know from clinical trials.

Our team continuously analyse reports of side effects  after vaccination and investigate any unusual or unexpected reporting patterns. This helps maintain public and healthcare provider confidence in vaccines used in Australia and ensures they continue to meet safety expectations.

AusVaxSafety was initiated in 2014 to monitor the safety of influenza vaccines in children less than 5 years of age. Led by the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance (NCIRS) and funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, the safety surveillance system was established in response to a 2010 incident in which a large number of children in this age group unexpectedly experienced fever and febrile seizures after receiving one brand of influenza vaccine.

Since its inception, AusVaxSafety has grown considerably and now monitors seasonal influenza vaccines for all age groups and all vaccines on the National Immunisation Program (NIP), as well as any newly introduced vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus and emerging diseases such as COVID-19 and mpox. AusVaxSafety has collected and analysed vaccine safety data from more than 10 million vaccine recipients across Australia.

Timely real-world safety data specific to Australia are provided to the public and findings are regularly published, contributing to the international evidence base on vaccine safety.
 

Our team

Professor Nicholas Wood

MBBS, MPH, FRACP, PhD
Associate Director of Clinical Services and Vaccine Safety, NCIRS
Professor of Clinical Vaccinology, University of Sydney

Nick is a paediatrician and vaccinologist. He is the Associate Director of Clinical Services and Vaccine Safety at NCIRS, where he heads Clinical Research, AusVaxSafety, Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS), Primary Health Network Immunisation Support and NSW Immunisation Specialist Service. He is the chair of the national AEFI Clinical Assessment Network and co-chair of the NSW Ministry of Health vaccine adverse event expert panel committee. He is a current member on the Advisory Committee on Vaccines in Australia and former member of the international Brighton Collaboration Science Board. Nick has expertise in clinical vaccine safety, vaccine trials and post-market vaccine safety surveillance.

Dr Lucy Deng 

MBBS, MIPH, FRACP, PhD
Clinical Lead, AusVaxSafety

Lucy is a clinician researcher and Clinical Lead of AusVaxSafety. She is a paediatrician in the NSW Immunisation Specialist Service and Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School. Lucy has an interest in vaccine safety, having completed a PhD in seizures in children post-vaccination. She continues to do research in vaccine safety to inform policy and practice on safe vaccination options and in improving patient and provider confidence in vaccine safety.

Thuy Nguyen 

BPH, MPH, PhD
Senior Epidemiologist  

Thuy is a senior epidemiologist with AusVaxSafety and an adjunct senior lecturer at the University of Sydney Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School. At NCIRS, she supports vaccine safety programs through data analysis, reporting and research to inform policy to improve surveillance and strengthen vaccine confidence. She holds a Master of Public Health from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a PhD in Medical Studies from the University of Tasmania. With over a decade of public health experience, she specialises in infectious disease surveillance, applied epidemiology and health service research. Before joining NCIRS, Thuy worked as a senior epidemiologist in Tasmania and trained as a biostatistician with the NSW Ministry of Health. 

Lucy Dawes 

BSc(Hons), PhD, MPH
Senior Research Officer

Lucy Dawes joined NCIRS in August 2023 as a Senior Research Officer. She works as an epidemiologist, providing critical research support to the AusVaxSafety National Vaccine Active Surveillance System. Lucy plays a key role in running AusVaxSafety’s National Immunisation Program and National COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Surveillance reports, in addition to conducting enhanced surveillance of the Shingrix vaccine. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney (High Distinction) and a PhD in Cell Biology from the University of East Anglia (UK). Additionally, Lucy has held postdoctoral research positions in biomedical science both in the UK and in Australia.  

Mehyar Khair Baik

BPharm, MPH, MIDI
Research Officer

Mehyar is a pharmacist with a Master of Public Health from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Infectious Diseases Intelligence from UNSW Sydney. He joined NCIRS in 2022, where he supported the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance (PAEDS) network, conducting surveillance on serious childhood diseases and monitoring adverse events following immunisation. Mehyar is currently playing a key role in supporting the AusVaxSafety program. His professional interests include infectious disease epidemiology, vaccine safety and strengthening disease surveillance systems to improve public health outcomes.

Kath Tapper 

BN, MPH
Clinical Nurse Consultant

Kath is a Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) with post-graduate qualifications in Immunisation, Child & Family Health, Infection Control and a Master of Public Health. Kath joined AusVaxSafety in 2021 and supports the team in the review of notifiable AEFI as well data collection for several studies. Kath has 12 years of experience in the Public Health Unit network as Immunisation Coordinator (Northern Sydney PHU and Illawarra Shoalhaven PHU). She previously worked at NCIRS from 2010 to 2015 as the Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI) CNC. Kath’s particular interest is making sure AEFIs are followed up thoroughly to ensure public confidence in the vaccination program remains high.

Jackson Young

BCom (Public Relations and Financial Planning)
Marketing and Communication Manager

Jackson has extensive experience working in government-funded health organisations, where he has implemented and led a wide range of marketing and communications initiatives in Australia and the United Kingdom.