INVITED SPEAKER

Professor Andrew Steer

Professor Andrew Steer (MBBS BMedSci MPH FRACP PhD FAHMS) is President of the Lancefield International Society for Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases. He is a paediatric infectious diseases physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Prof Steer is Director of Infection, Immunity and Global Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, where he also leads the Tropical Diseases Research Group and co-chairs the Melbourne Children’s Global Health initiative. Prof Steer is a Professorial Research Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Medical Sciences, and was awarded the inaugural Jian Zhou Medal for translational medical science in 2020 from the Academy. Prof Steer was awarded the 2022 Bailey K. Ashford Medal from the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for distinguished work in tropical medicine, and the 2024 Sir Gus Nossal Medal for Global Health from the Australian Academy of Science. Prof Steer has an established international profile in Streptococcus pyogenes research, and in field trials for the control of tropical diseases including rheumatic heart disease, scabies and lymphatic filariasis. Prof Steer is the originator of the human challenge model for S. pyogenes pharyngitis and holds leadership positions related to S. pyogenes vaccine development including Co-Chair of the Strep A Global Vaccine Consortium (SAVAC), and Co Director of the Australian Strep A Vaccine Initiative (ASAVI).