News

University of Melbourne’s Chantel Lin, program manager for antimicrobial resistance at the Doherty Institute

Can you introduce yourself and your role at the Doherty Institute?

I am a program manager working across multiple teams at the Doherty Institute. My primary role is to manage the Institute’s antimicrobial resistance program and related projects. I also support the Institute’s activities in microbial genomics and, more recently, manage our projects that support the COVID-19 response in the Asia-Pacific region. 

What initially attracted you to the field of antimicrobial resistance and microbial genomics? 

I was interested in infectious diseases, did a science degree majoring in genetics and a Master of Public Health, and enjoyed working in project management roles – this has been an incredible opportunity to work across all of my areas of interest. It is exciting and motivating to be working in two rapidly evolving areas that are both changing healthcare and our approach to public health.    

Why do you think this area of science is important?

Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria or viruses) to become resistant to antimicrobials, such as antibiotics. Resistant pathogens impact our ability to prevent and treat infections, threatening public health globally. Without effective antimicrobials to treat infections, the health of people and animals is at risk; it can also impact on food production and the environment. There has been a rapid rise of dangerous multi-drug resistant organisms that are difficult to treat with currently available antimicrobials and development of new antimicrobials is slow and difficult. It is important to address the urgent need to prevent the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens to ensure medicines and treatment of common infections remains possible.

Pathogen genomics is revolutionising public health by improving our ability to rapidly identify and track infections. Pathogen genomics uses whole genome sequencing technologies to produce genetic information about an organism, analyse the data using bioinformatic approaches and make links with epidemiological or clinical information to interpret the data in a meaningful way. Pathogen genomics is important. It can be applied to support clinical care and public health activities through the ability to identify pathogens causing a disease, look at potential relationships between cases and provide important data to support response to outbreaks and surveillance initiatives. 

What does a ‘typical’ day look like when managing public health, international health and translational research programs?

I am lucky to work across a broad range of projects, which means I get a lot of variety in my days. It does always involve coordination across teams working on particular projects, supporting implementation of project activities, acting as a conduit between project partners and external stakeholders, and updating and reporting on progress – essentially a lot of talking to people, with a bit of writing stuff down. 

What projects/initiatives are you currently working on?

Many of our current projects focus on capacity building and training across the Asia-Pacific region for antimicrobial resistance, including for laboratory diagnostics and surveillance, antimicrobial stewardship, infection control and animal health, working with partners including the World Health Organisation, the Fleming Fund Fellowship Program, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Centre for Health Security (COMBAT-AMR project). We are also providing support for laboratory diagnostics for COVID-19 to Pacific island countries – this has been a great initiative and a key focus over the last few months. 

Another focus of my job is to support translational research projects across both antimicrobial resistance and genomics. I also coordinate the Communicable Diseases Genomics Network, a collaborative network of public health laboratories across Australia and New Zealand, with an overarching aim of implementing genomics into clinical and public health microbiology. 

Part of your role involves regional capacity building in neighbouring countries, including the Pacific. Can you share any insights into this?

It has been a real privilege to work with professionals and experts across the region, we are very much enjoying the regional capacity building projects and learning a lot along the way. 

I think the most important (and exciting) part is the collaboration and communication with regional counterparts. The capacity building projects usually involve travel to countries to work with the professionals in-country to understand their context, situation, needs and priorities. This is followed by a collaborative approach to design a workplan that addresses the needs and implementation of training activities, including workshops and key sites (e.g. hospitals, laboratories), training at the Doherty Institute and also remote mentoring and ongoing advice. There is a big focus on sustainability and how we can provide training that will lead to long-term outcomes. 

COVID-19 presents some obvious challenges with travel restrictions, however it has forced us to adapt and develop approaches for remote training and implementation.

If somebody was looking to move into the area of project management, do you have any advice?

Find projects to work on that interest you - that definitely makes it fun! Develop a good understanding of the project but ask the experts to contribute to the technical aspects. It’s been great to work with an incredible team and I am constantly learning new things.