Advancing Sepsis Care Through Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration

The Australian Sepsis Grand Round (ASGR) is a free online event series dedicated to advancing best-practice sepsis care and fostering collaboration among healthcare professionals. Since its inception as the Victorian Sepsis Grand Round in 2021, ASGR has become a hub for knowledge exchange and professional development, uniting clinicians from Australia and around the world.

Presented by Alfred Health, Sepsis Australia and Safer Care Victoria, ASGR provides a platform for exploring, debating, and showcasing Australia's world-class sepsis treatment and expertise. Through national collaborations, we curate diverse programs that focus on pioneering research and medical practices, driving innovation in sepsis care.

Join us at an Australian Sepsis Grand Round to help reduce the burden of sepsis, enhance patient care, and shape healthcare policy. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge and contribute to the evolution of sepsis care.

For more information about sepsis, visit the Sepsis Australia website: australiansepsisnetwork.net.au. Stay updated on social media by following @sepsisAU, @EmergEdu or @LinkedIn_ICU and explore additional CME/CPD opportunities through Alfred Health in emergency care or intensive care.

Program

Date: Thursday, 22 May 2025

Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM AEST

INTRODUCTION

1830–1835 Welcome and Opening - Dr Judit Orosz

SEPSIS UPDATES

1835–1845 Global and National Sepsis Updates - Dr Brett Abbenbroek

1845–1850 Victorian Sepsis Program - A/Prof Gerard O’Reilly

1850–1900 Panel Discussion - All presenters, chaired by Dr Steve McGloughlin

SEPSIS AND RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS

1900–1905 Introduction to Topic: Sepsis and Respiratory Infections

1905–1915 One Breath at a Time: Lauren’s Story - Dawn Foster

1915–1930 Influenza and Emerging Respiratory Infections: Who’s at Risk in Australia? - Professor Allen Cheng

1930–1945 Sepsis Through the Respiratory Physician’s Lens - Dr Eli Dabscheck

1945–1955 Panel Discussion - All presenters, chaired by Dr Steve McGloughlin

1955–2000 Close

Judit Orosz

Intensive Care Specialist and Deputy Director (Operations) Intensive Care, The Alfred

Dr Judit Orosz is an Intensive Care Specialist and the Deputy Director (Operations) at The Alfred ICU. She originally trained in Hungary and Ireland in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine before completing Intensive Care training, ultrasound and echocardiography training in Australia.

She has completed the Safety, Quality, Informatics and Leadership training program at Harvard University. Her other interests and responsibilities include care of deteriorating patients and supervision of the Medical Emergency Team.

Brett Abbenbroek

Program Manager, Sepsis Australia and Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, Global Sepsis Alliance Board Member

Dr Brett Abbenbroek is the Program Manager of Sepsis Australia and the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance (APSA) in the Critical Care Division at The George Institute. Stopping Sepsis - National Sepsis Action Plan. These responsibilities also extend to APSA which is a coalition of 23 countries across the Asia Pacific to manage regionwide initiatives in education, research and quality improvement for better outcomes in sepsis survivors.

Brett is a registered nurse with extensive clinical, education, and management experience in critical care. His qualifications include intensive care, health management, a Bachelor of Science, and a Masters in Public Health. In May 2018, he completed his doctoral studies into the efficiency and effectiveness of organisational models in critical care and their impact on patient and nurse outcomes. Study findings inform the Australasian Health Facility Guidelines for new and redeveloped ICUs.

Early in his career, Brett worked on several projects within developing nations, including Nepal, Vanuatu and China, to establish cardiac surgical and critical care programs. Concurrently, Brett gained experience in a range of health policy, planning, project management, digital health and clinical safety advisory roles. As the State-wide Coordinator for Critical Care Service Planning (NSW) across ICU, ED and medical retrieval services, he worked closely with clinicians to enhance the development, integration and delivery of critical care services. This led to a successful Treasury bid for funding to build and implement the electronic Record for Intensive Care (NSW) for which Brett was the Program Manager for Change and Adoption. A health service planning and management consultancy business followed, leading to project management roles within the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on a series of national eHealth clinical safety programs, electronic medication safety and the development of evidence-based national clinical care standards. This experience was integral to the development and launch of the national Sepsis Clinical Care Standard in June 2022, which places Australia at the forefront globally towards achieving a systems-based approach for improving outcomes and reducing the burden of sepsis.

Gerard O’Reilly

Emergency Care Clinical Lead Safer Care Victoria, Emergency Physician and Head of International Programs, Alfred Health

Associate Professor Gerard O’Reilly is currently an NHMRC Research Fellow at the National Trauma Research Institute, where he is leading the project titled: “Maximising the usefulness and timeliness of trauma and emergency registry data for improving patient outcomes”

He is Head, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the National Trauma Research Institute and Consultant Emergency Physician and Head, Global Programs at the Emergency and Trauma Centre, The Alfred. Associate Professor O’Reilly has previously completed a Master of Public Health (International Health) and a Master of Biostatistics, followed by a PhD in the development of trauma registries in developing (and developed) countries.

Associate Professor O’Reilly has an extensive background in the development of emergency and trauma capacity development programs throughout the world, including in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar and Vietnam. He has also previously worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in north Afghanistan and a Somali refugee camp in Kenya and has participated in emergency responses in Timor Leste and post-tsunami Aceh.

Associate Professor O’Reilly is a past Chair of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) Global Emergency Committee (GECCo) (formerly the International Emergency Medicine Committee) and is a longstanding member of the WHO Global Alliance for the Care of the Injured (GACI) Trauma Registry and Quality Improvement Working Group. He chairs the annual Alfred-Monash Global Emergency Care Conference and is part of the inaugural faculty for the Alfred-Monash Emergency Medicine Research Course.

Associate Professor O’Reilly has authored more than one hundred peer-reviewed journal publications. He is currently supervising five PhD research projects focusing on global and regional emergency and trauma care systems. His special areas of research interest are trauma and emergency care registry development, quality and usefulness and the development of global emergency and trauma care systems.

Allen Cheng

Infectious Diseases Physician, Director of Infectious Diseases at Monash Health

Prof Allen Cheng is Professor/Director of Monash Infectious Diseases at Monash Health and the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash University. He has research interests in clinical infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, influenza and other vaccine preventable diseases and communicable diseases control. He was previously Co-Chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and the Chair of the Advisory Committee for Vaccines, and during the COVID-19 pandemic was Acting Victorian Chief Health Officer. He was recognised for his contribution to medicine and epidemiology as Companion of the Order of Australia in 2025.

Eli Dabscheck

Sleep Disorders and Respiratory Physician, Alfred Health

Dr Eli Dabscheck is a Sleep Disorders and Respiratory Physician with extensive clinical and research experience in all aspects of sleep medicine. He has a particular interest in the peri-operative management of obstructive sleep apnoea and is involved in research linking mood disturbance and obstructive sleep apnoea. He completed a Master of Clinical Epidemiology.

He currently holds a clinical appointment at the Alfred Hospital, where he leads the home ventilation service, and an academic appointment at Monash University.

Steve McGloughlin

Director, Intensive Care, The Alfred & Technical Officer Clinical Management, World Health Emergencies Programme, World Health Organization

Professor Steve McGloughlin is an intensive care physician and infectious diseases physician at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. He is the director of the Alfred ICU, a 62-bed quaternary ICU specialising in trauma, advanced cardiac support, ECMO and burns. in 2023 he is also working for the World Health Organisation in the health emergencies and pandemic preparedness program. 

He was the chair of the ANZICS COVID-19 guideline committee and is the current Clinical Director of the Australian Living Evidence Collaboration including the COVID 19 National Clinical Evidence Taskforce. He has been the lead author of the Australian Therapeutic Guidelines Sepsis chapter for the past 8 years and is also an author on the most recent version of the Surviving Sepsis Guideline.  He has completed a Masters of Public Health and a Masters of International Health Leadership. In 2022 he became a member of the College of Intensive Care Board and he has an amazing wife and three awesome kids, who are much better than him at everything.

About us

The Australian Sepsis Grand Round (ASGR) is an online event series that provides a forum for healthcare professionals to explore and debate aspects of best-practice sepsis care.  The series promotes collaborative efforts and showcases Australia's world-class treatment, expertise and resources. 

Formerly known as the Victorian Sepsis Grand Round (VSGR), Alfred Health and Sepsis Australia proudly present this initiative, which unites clinicians from across Australia and around the globe in the pursuit of excellence in sepsis management.

The ASGR provides a platform for clinicians involved in sepsis care to explore, debate, and showcase Australia's world-class treatment, expertise, and resources. Through collaboration with our partners, we curate a diverse program centred on pioneering research and medical practice that drives innovation in sepsis care.

Since its inception in 2021, the ASGR has been a beacon of knowledge exchange and professional development.

Collaborative Partners

Alfred Health

The Australian Sepsis Grand Round was, initiated by The Alfred Intensive Care Academic Centre and the Alfred Emergency Academic Centre.

The Alfred Intensive Care Academic Centre is the focal point of The Alfred ICU education and research programs, which aim to improve clinical outcomes by promoting active, integrated, and patient-focused knowledge generation, dissemination, and translation in intensive care medicine. The Alfred Intensive Care Unit is one of Australia’s largest units, leading innovation in critical care treatment, education, and research, and caring for all Victorians with life-threatening conditions.

Alfred Emergency Academic Centre operates one of Australasia’s busiest trauma centres, a major metropolitan emergency department and a community-based emergency department treating adult and paediatric patients. Our inter-disciplinary team works together to provide timely, quality care. Based on this ethos, we have developed a broad range of education and knowledge exchange activities that are open to all healthcare professionals and delivered in collaboration with Monash University.

Sepsis Australia

Sepsis Australia is a program of The George Institute for Global Health. It is a collaboration of individuals and organisations working to improve outcomes for patients with sepsis, as well as their friends and family. Our mission is to reduce the burden of disease (death and disability) due to sepsis by increasing awareness and recognition, improving clinical care and support, providing education for healthcare workers and undertaking research that directly translates into healthcare policy.

Safer Care Victoria

Safer Care Victoria helps Victorian health services:

• prevent and learn from patient harm

• identify and deliver service improvements

• engage with consumers.

The Safer Care Victoria website offers information and resources on clinical and professional leadership, safety, improvement, engagement, and other topics.

For more information on their work with the “Think Sepsis, Act Fast” collaborative, please review the following:

• Sepsis (for EDs and UCCs) | Safer Care Victoria

• Sepsis (whole-of-hospital) | Safer Care Victoria