The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr Rod James

Dr Rod James

+61402 261 683 | rodney.james@mh.org.au | rod.james@unimelb.edu.au

Position:
Medical Microbiologist - MDU-PHL | Director of Clinical Services - Guidance Group / NCAS
Theme(s):
Antimicrobial Resistance, Bacterial and Parasitic Infections, Buruli ulcer
Discipline(s):
Discovery Research, Global Health, Public Health, Clinical and health systems research
Unit(s):
Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) Public Health Laboratory, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Guidance Group (RMH), National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS)
Lab Group(s):
Howden Group

Dr Rod James is a Medical Microbiologist at the Melbourne Diagnostic Unit Public Health Laboratory (MDU PHL) and the Director of Clinical Services at the Royal Melbourne Hospital's Guidance Group and National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship (NCAS). Rod has been involved with antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship research for the past 10 years, with a major interest in implementation of capacity building programs in regional and remote Australian facilities and in low- and middle-income countries within the Asia Pacific region. Rod is the current Antimicrobial Resistance Theme co-lead at the Doherty Institute.

  • Key Achievements
    • Rod has played a significant role in enhancing metrics and audit methodology ensuring appropriate usage of antimicrobials. His contributions have been instrumental in establishing antimicrobial stewardship programs across Australia, where he provided guidance on national policies and accreditation standards.

      Rod spearheaded the development of the National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey (NAPS), which received funding from the Department of Health and Aged Care, and directly contribute to the implementation of National AMR Strategies.

      Additionally, he has been involved in consultancies with the World Health Organization (WHO) and holds a leadership position at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance. In this role, he supports a broad range of pharmacy and laboratory mentorship initiatives as part of the Fleming Fund and COMBAT-AMR programs.

    Publications
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    Research Groups
    • Howden Group

      Research from Professor Ben Howden’s group research uses genomics, molecular biology, epidemiology and clinical studies to address a broad range of issues related to invasive bacterial diseases in humans, especially those caused by staphylococci, enterococci and other antimicrobial-resistant species. Additionally, working closely with scientists in the MDU PHL, they investigate the epidemiology, evolution, and spread of bacterial pathogens of public health significance such as Neisseria gonorrhoea, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella and Salmonella spp., Legionella spp., and carbapenemase-producing gram-negative bacteria.


      Lab Team

      Howden Group

      • Director Of Microbiological Diagnostic Unit (MDU) Public Health Laboratory
      • Clinical Microbiologist & Infectious Diseases Physician
      • Senior Researcher
      • Computational Microbiologist, Bioinformatician
      • Dr Romain Guerillot
      • Dr Natasha Holmes
      • Dr Anders Gonçalves da Silva
      • Dr Kyra Chua
      • Wei Gao
      • Dr Jason Kwong
      • Sarah Baines
      • Dr Jean Lee
      • Dr Stefano Giulieri
      • Eloise Alison
      • Dr Andre Mu
        Research Officer
      • Robyn Lee
        Research Fellow