Our people

Our institute is comprised of central organisation structure with a core executive, a multidisciplinary advisory board and node leaders. 

The Institute's Director guides our strategic thinking, key partnerships and outputs. 

Professor Ben Marais is an Infectious Diseases Consultant at the Children's Hospital Westmead. His primary research interest is tuberculosis (epidemiology, strain diversity/evolution, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, drug resistance) with a special focus on how children are affected by the global epidemic. He has a keen interest in international child health; including HIV, TB/HIV, paediatric and emerging infections in general, as well as operations and cross-disciplinary research. 

Our Deputy Director (acting) Professor Jamie Triccas is a bacteriologist who uses a multidisciplinary approach to define immunity to chronic bacterial pathogens and develop new treatments to control infection. He is a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Group Leader in the Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Theme in the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney. He has over 25 years’ experience working with pathogens and has published widely on aspects of bacterial pathogenesis, immunity to infection and vaccine development and testing.

Associate Director (Strategy, Operations & Partnerships)

Dr Jocelyne Basseal, leads the strategic development of the Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, with a focus on external relations and partnerships. Prior to this role, she worked on the COVID-19 response for the WHO's Western Pacific Region, supporting low-middle income countries as an Infection Prevention and Control consultant. Jocelyne has extensive experience in the non-for-profit sector as the Managing Editor, Research and Policy Manager for the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine and was instrumental in advocating for best practices in IPC in medical imaging. She has consulted for several commercial companies as an IPC advisor and supported the development of the research grants scheme for a philanthropic organisation. Jocelyne is the immediate past President of the Australasian Medical Writers Association and currently serves on the Australian Network of WHO Collaborating Centres Executive Committee. She holds a PhD in medical microbiology from the University of Sydney and a Grad Cert in Infection Prevention and Control.

Centre Manager

Christine Aitken has been with the Centre for over 11 years, establishing and running the operations of the institute.

Senior Administration Officer

Kayla Milroy joined the Sydney ID team in August 2023. She has many years of experience as an administration officer, especially in the health industry. Most recently she worked at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead with the Paediatric endocrinologist team.