The Australian Sepsis Grand Round is a national virtual education series bringing together clinicians from across Australia and around the world to share current practice, research, and system improvement initiatives in sepsis care.

The September 2026 Grand Round focused on Post Sepsis Recovery and Survivorship, highlighting key challenges and opportunities in improving recognition, management, and recovery across diverse patient groups.

Program

Welcome

6:30 PM – 6:35 PM Welcome and introduction – Dr Judit Orosz

Sepsis Updates

6:35 PM – 6:40 PM Global and National Sepsis Update – Dr Brett Abbenbroek

6:40 PM – 6:50 PM Clinical Updates: Influenza update, clinical trails and current research – Prof Steve McGloughlin

Post Sepsis Recovery and Survivorship

6:50 PM – 6:55 PM Introduction to Post Sepsis Recovery and Survivorship – Dr Judit Orosz

6:55 PM – 7:05 PM Journey Through my Eyes - Ms Tracey McNee

7:05 PM – 7:20 PM Sepsis Support Research Program - A/Prof Naomi Hammond

7:20 PM – 7:30 PM WA Post Sepsis Clinical Model - Ms Natalie Middleton

7:30 PM - 7:40 PM Sepsis - 0 Stars - Dr Jason Lam

Panel and Close

7:40 PM – 8:00 PM Panel Discussion and Close - All presenters, facilitated by Judit Orosz

Associate Professor Naomi Hammond

RN,BN,MN (Crit. Care),MPH (with Merit), PhD -

Program Head, Critical Care at The George Institute for Global Health

ssociate Professor Naomi Hammond is the Critical Care Program Head at The George Institute for Global Health. She also works part-time as the Intensive Care Clinical Research Manager at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia. Naomi holds several other appointments including NHMRC Emerging Leader Fellow; Conjoint Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales; an Editorial Board Member for Australian Critical Care Journal; Chair of the Australian Critical Care Nurses Research Advisory Panel; and Senior Research Fellow with the Australian Sepsis Network.

Naomi is a clinical nurse researcher and has led a program of sepsis research through international collaborations including facilitating 4 clinical trials in COVID-19 in India. She leads the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Point Prevalence program. She has also undertaken international point prevalence studies including a large epidemiological study of patients with sepsis in Indian ICUs. Called the SIPS (Sepsis in India Prevalence) study, it has provided vital insights into changing epidemiology with different sepsis definitions, bacteriology, and antimicrobial resistance patterns.

Naomi's main research interests include fluid resuscitation, sepsis, fever management, knowledge translation and implementation research, health economics, and long-term outcomes post-critical illness. Naomi has experience supervising and mentoring medical trainees, nursing staff, PhD, Masters and medical students in both the clinical and academic environment. Additional to Naomi's academic portfolio, she also has extensive clinical trials operational management experience including finance, regulatory processes, personnel, project and program management in a clinical and NGO environment.

Dr Brett Abbenbroek

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

Dr Brett Abbenbroek is Program Manager of Sepsis Australia and the Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, leading national and regional initiatives to improve sepsis recognition, management, and patient outcomes. His work focuses on advancing education, research, and quality improvement across health systems.

He has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Australian Sepsis Clinical Care Standard, supporting a coordinated, systems based approach to sepsis care. He works closely with clinicians and health services to strengthen early detection and evidence based management of sepsis.

Through his leadership across Australia and the Asia Pacific region, Brett continues to drive collaborative efforts to reduce the burden of sepsis and improve outcomes for patients and survivors.

Dr Jason Lam

BDM, BMBS, DCH, MSportsMed FRACGP

Bluff Road Medical

Jason was originally a professional dancer and artist before collapsing a lung and decided medicine sounded fun after watching a Scrubs marathon whilst waiting for his lung to reinflate. He studied medicine at Flinders University in South Australia before working in both Plastic Surgery and Dermatology in the Northern Territory and New South Wales Tertiary hospitals. He endeavours to ensure an approachable, holistic and collaborative approach to patient care without too much swearing.

He is a neurodivergent philomath/chaos goblin with interests in surgery, dermatology, sports medicine, dinosaurs, the assessment and management of skin cancer, general medicine, pain, chronic wounds and complex cases. He likes to think of himself as a less pathological ‘Dr House’ and thrives on diagnostic challenges and seeking answers for complex and difficult to diagnose conditions. He deeply understands the realities of navigating complex, often misunderstood conditions, having had lived experience of hypermobility, orthostatic hypotension/POTS and ME/CFS post septic shock - 0 stars do not recommend. He has a special interest in Hypermobility, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, dysautonomia, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, FND, PANS/PANDAS and is proud to be a part of The Australian EDS and HSD Network.

He gained his Fellowship in General Practice and has also completed a Diploma of Child Health, a Certificate in Practical Dermoscopy from the Australian College of Dermatology and a Master’s of Sports Medicine. He was the inaugural Crichton Dance Medicine fellow with the Australian Ballet. He is potentially the longest serving registrar with the Australian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians and is involved in medical education, publication and research. He has had a few speaking gigs around hypermobility, neurodivergence, sports medicine, burnout, complex, chronic illness and has been noted for being slightly unhinged with a touch of whimsy (and occasionally a Nerf gun). Unfortunately that has now led to an over-inflated sense of self-importance, and he would be chuffed to connect if there are more opportunities to hear his own voice waffling on his topics of interest. He is committed to ongoing professional development and is privileged to work alongside some of the best across many fields.

Outside of medicine, Jason enjoys time with his minecraft obessessed son, planning to take over the world and/or steal the moon, producing dreadfully pretentious short films, deep dives into random things, photography and custom jewellery.

Natalie Middleton

Clinical Nurse Consultant – Sepsis | Infectious Diseases - Perth Children’s Hospital

Natalie Middleton is a Clinical Nurse Consultant for Sepsis at Perth Children's Hospital and a PhD candidate whose research focuses on the long-term impacts of paediatric sepsis. Her work explores the physical, psychological, and social consequences experienced by sepsis survivors and their families, with the aim of improving patient-centred care and long-term outcomes. Natalie is passionate about advancing sepsis recognition, management, and support for children and families affected by sepsis across the healthcare continuum.

Tracey McNee

Sepsis Survivor

Tracey McNee lives in the Top End of Australia and brings more than 45 years of experience in finance, administration and workplace health and safety across private enterprise, government and not-for-profit organisations. Prior to March 2023, she had a long and fulfilling career and was preparing for retirement.

Tracey is now retired following septic shock in 2023. After being diagnosed with primary nmMRSA and secondary pneumonia, she spent 67 days in ICU and a further 55 days on a ward. Her illness led to serious complications, including a collapsed lung, kidney failure requiring dialysis, and heart failure that resulted in an induced coma for approximately 12 days. While this period was significant, Tracey describes the rehabilitation that followed as the greater challenge and an ongoing lifelong journey. As a sepsis survivor, she is a passionate advocate for improving health systems everywhere.

Dr 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.

Professor 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

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.