Associate Professor Noleen Bennett
(03) 9342 9333 | (03) 9342 9415 | Noleen.bennett@mh.org.au
- Position:
- Aged Care NAPS Project Officer
- Theme(s):
- Antimicrobial Resistance, Influenza
- Discipline(s):
- Public Health
- Unit(s):
- The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Guidance Group (RMH), VICNISS
- Lab Group(s):
- VICNISS, National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship
Associate Professor Noleen Bennett holds a distinguished senior Infection Control Consultant at the Victorian Healthcare Associated Infection Surveillance System (VICNISS) and the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS). With a Doctorate of Philosophy, she specialises in developing and evaluating infection surveillance programs for smaller acute care hospitals. Noleen has made valuable contributions to the field by actively advising on COVID-19 management across various sectors, including community and aged care services, at both state and national levels. In recognition of her outstanding achievements, Noleen was honored with the prestigious SHEA International Ambassadorship in 2019.
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Key Achievements
Research Groups
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Associate Professor Noleen's dedication to public health, particularly in aged care, led her to earn a Doctorate of Philosophy in 2011. She then became the inagural project officer for Aged Care NAPS, the pioneering Australian survey that unified the collection, coordination, and analysis of infection and antimicrobial use data in residential aged care. With her expertise, she has made significant contributions to 47 academic journals and secured research funding exceeding $8 million. Presently, she serves as the Chief Investigator for the projects titled 'Appropriate Antimicrobial Use: Scaling Surveillance Using Digital Health’ and ‘Development and Implementation of the National Infection Surveillance Program for Aged Care (NISPAC).
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VICNISS
The VICNISS Coordinating Centre provides a state-wide, standardised surveillance service for healthcare associated infections (HAIs) and related events. The goal of VICNISS is to monitor and reduce the incidence of HAIs, providing support for health services in Victoria. VICNISS aims to support Victorian health services to carry out international best practice surveillance and analysis, and to lead interventions for quality improvement to improve the health of all Victorians.
VICNISS provides a source of high quality data for regular performance monitoring, and for a valuable resource for the research community. Over the time of VICNISS surveillance, infection rates in key areas of focus have fallen markedly, reducing the significant financial and personal cost of these infections on both individual patients and the health system.
VICNISS collaborates with the National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS), with a major involvement in aged care NAPS (ac-NAPS). VICNISS is also engaged by DHHS Residential Aged Care Services to carry out monitoring of infection control indicators in Victoria’s public residential aged care services, including participation in ac-NAPS.
Lab Team
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Director VICNISS
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Operations Director (VICNISS)
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Infectious Diseases Physician
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Infectious Disease Physician
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Aged Care NAPS Project Officer
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Kylie SnookSenior Infection Control Consultant
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Sam DicksonSenior Infection Control Consultant
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Khosi DubeSenior Infection Control Consultant
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CNC Infection Control
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Database Manager
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Net SQL Programmer
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Business Intelligence Reporting Developer
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Rashedul HasanDatabase Administrator/Developer
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Atal MalavdeNet SQL Programmer (NISPAC project)
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Biostatistician
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Stephanie TanamasEpidemiologist
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Administration Assistant / Office Manager
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National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship
The National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) is a health services research program that aims to improve the use of antimicrobials across animal and human health, to influence national policy, and to generate a research workforce across nurses, pharmacists, doctors and veterinarians. NCAS aims to lead and facilitate the embedding of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) within clinical practice across diverse healthcare settings and among different practitioner groups in Australia. Its research and surveillance programs aim to improve antimicrobial prescribing by understanding prescribing behaviours through qualitative and quantitative methods, monitoring current prescribing patterns across healthcare settings, identifying targets for quality improvement, and developing interventions, new policies and practices.
Lab Team
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Director National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS) | Director Guidance Group
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Deputy Director of NCAS; Director of the Guidance Group; Infectious Diseases Physician
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Dr Rodney James
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Senior Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist and Project Officer
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Dr Noleen Bennett
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Robyn Ingram
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Head of the Infection Prevention and Surveillance Service (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
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Professor Glenn Browning
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Professor Mike Richards
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Guidance IT Manager
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Associate Professor Rhonda Stuart
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Dr David Kong
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Professor Danielle Mazza
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Dr Trish Peel
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Dr N.Deborah Friedman
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Dr Helen Billman-Jacobe
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Infectious Diseases and General Physician (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
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Operations Director (VICNISS)
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Infectious Diseases Physician
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Evette Buono
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Professor Frank Dunshea
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Courtney Ierano
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Jaclyn Bishop
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Karen Urbancic
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Lesley Hawes
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Leslie Dowson
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Dr Laura HardefeldtPost-Doctorate Fellow | Department of Veterinary Biosciences
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Dr Helen Crabb
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Dr Kirsten BaileyResearch Fellow in Antimicrobial Stewardship | Melbourne Veterinary School
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Dr Arjun Rajkhowa
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Dr Anna SriPhD Candidate | Melbourne Veterinary School
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Dr Amy HiiPhD Candidate | Department of Veterinary Biosciences
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Dr Ri ScarboroughPhD Candidate | Melbourne Veterinary School
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