ProfessorVitali Sintchenko

MBBS, PhD, FRCPA, FASM, FACHI

Professor Vitali Sintchenko is a leading public health microbiologist and academic pathologist who conducts research on biosurveillance of communicable diseases. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the Australian Society for Microbiology. Professor Sintchenko leads Research Theme "Pathogens Emergence and Spread" at the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute (SydneyID). He led the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology - Public Health at Westmead Hospital between 2013 and 2024. His research team has been developing advanced genomics tools to accurately predict the behaviour and modes of transmission of microbial pathogens and identify the source of disease outbreaks. He notes, "we want to detect outbreaks early enough for control measures to be useful, for timely prevention of spread. We are studying and implementing genomics-guided surveillance of respiratory, food-borne and other bacterial diseases with epidemic potential (e.g. tuberculosis; COVID-19; pertussis; pneumococcal pneumonia; Salmonella gastroenteritis). By linking pathogen genomics and informatics with epidemiological context and clinical data, we make conclusions regarding the transmission and spread of outbreaks". He adds, "supported by the infrastructure of Mycobacterium, Enteric and Pneumococcal Reference Laboratories at Westmead and the SydneyID, the genomics program is revolutionising outbreak surveillance by providing new information on transmission chains including risk factors, modes and sources of transmission, geography and timeline of spread, and identification of 'superspreaders' and transmission 'hotspots' ". Professor Sintchenko has earned his PhD in medical informatics from the University of New South Wales and published the world's first book on infectious disease informatics with >10,000 copies sold.