Dr. Sacha Stelzer-Braid is a Senior Postdoctoral Scientist in the Virology Research Lab at the University of New South Wales/Prince of Wales Hospital. Dr. Stelzer-Braid’s research interests include:
- Surveillance of enterovirus and SARS-CoV-2 for emerging strains, using next-generation sequencing
- Using point-of-care tests (POCT) to improve clinical outcomes for patients
- Transmission modes of respiratory viruses including SARS-CoV-2
- Role of respiratory viruses in exacerbation of chronic airway diseases including asthma and cystic fibrosis (CF)
- Developing novel sampling and diagnostic methods for emerging viruses.
Dr. Stelzer-Braid is currently working on studies involving whole-genome next-generation sequencing of enterovirus from around NSW, and assessing new point-of-care tests through the UNSW Centre for Research Excellence “Integrated Systems for Epidemic Response (ISER)”. She has given expert opinions in the media around SARS-CoV-2 transmission, survival of the virus on surfaces, and cleaning your home for coronavirus, including https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2020-04-18/which-surfaces-harbour-coronavirus/12157080; http://medicalrepublic.com.au/is-sars-cov-2-an-oddball-virus-we-asked-the-experts/27528. Sacha has also been interviewed for the STEM Equity network Podcast series.
Dr. Stelzer-Braid lectures at the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales. She is interested in new methods of education and teaching to engage students in the lecture theatre and laboratory and has completed the Foundations of University Learning and Teaching (FULT) course (UNSW) and Learning to Teach Online MOOC (Coursera).
She also enjoys inspiring budding scientists through the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools program (in partnership with Lucas Heights Community School) and is passionate about encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers.
Dr. Stelzer-Braid was recently awarded a Franklin Women COVID Carer’s Support Scholarship 2020. She was selected for a UNSW place in the 2019 Franklin Women/Serendis Mentoring program and awarded the Communicable Diseases Network of Australia Observership. She is a member of Franklin Women, the Australian Society for Microbiology, and the Australasian Virology Society.
Projects
- Epidemiology and emerging enterovirus strains in New South Wales.
- The role of respiratory viruses in exacerbation of chronic airway diseases (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis).
Supervision
Currently supervises two PhD students.
Awards
2020 Franklin Women COVID Carer’s Support Scholarship
2019 Franklin Women & Serendis/UNSW Mentoring Program
2019 CDNA Observership
2015 TSANZ travel grant
2014 CASS Foundation Travel Award
2014 TSANZ travel grant
2013 Career Advancement Fund UNSW
2011 TSANZ travel grant
2003 Lee Travel Scholarship
2001- 2004 Australian Postgraduate Award
1999 Jackson Prize
Recent Publications
Click here to view her ORCID iD.
Stelzer-Braid S., Walker G.J., Aggarwal A., Isaacs S.R., Yeang M., Naing Z., Ospina Stella A., Turville S.G., Rawlinson W.D. (2020) ‘Virus isolation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for diagnostic and research purposes.’ Pathology Dec;52(7):760-763. doi: 10.1016/j.pathol.2020.09.012.
Bull R.A., Adikari T.N., Ferguson J.M., Hammond J.M., Stevanovski I., Beukers A.G., Naing Z., Yeang M., Verich A., Gamaarachchi H., Kim K.W., Luciani F., Stelzer-Braid S., Eden J.S., Rawlinson W.D., van Hal S.J., Deveson I.W. (2020) ‘Analytical validity of nanopore sequencing for rapid SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis.’ Nat Commun. Dec 9;11(1):6272. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-20075-6.
Walker G.J., Clifford V., Bansal N., Stella A.O., Turville S., Stelzer-Braid S., Klein L.D., Rawlinson W.D. (2020) ‘SARS-CoV-2 in human milk is inactivated by Holder pasteurisation but not cold storage’. J Paediatr Child Health Dec;56(12):1872-1874. doi: 10.1111/jpc.15065.
Coffey M.J., Low I., Stelzer-Braid S., Wemheuer B., Garg M., Thomas T., Jaffe A., Rawlinson W.D., Ooi C.Y. (2020) ‘The intestinal virome in children with cystic fibrosis differs from healthy controls’. PLoS One. May 22;15(5):e0233557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233557.
Chen, X., Adam, D.C., Chughtai, A.A., Stelzer-Braid, S., Scotch M. & MacIntyre C.R. (2020) ‘The Phylogeography of MERS-CoV in Hospital Outbreak-Associated Cases Compared to Sporadic Cases in Saudi Arabia’ Viruses 2020, 12, 540; doi:10.3390/v12050540
Coffey M.J., Mckay I.R., Doumit M., Chuang S., Adams S., Stelzer-Braid S., Waters S.A., Kasparian N.A., Thomas T., Jaffe A., Katz T. & Ooi C.Y. (2020), ‘Evaluating the Alimentary and Respiratory Tracts in Health and disease (EARTH) research programme: a protocol for prospective, longitudinal, controlled, observational studies in children with chronic disease at an Australian tertiary paediatric hospital’, BMJ Open, vol. 10, pp. e033916
Stelzer-Braid, S., Wynn, M., Chatoor, R., Scotch, M., Ramachandran, V., Teoh, H., Farrar, M. A., Sampaio, H., Andrews, P. I., Craig, M. E., MacIntyre, C. R., Varadhan, H., Kesson, A., Britton, P. N., Newcombe, J., Rawlinson, W. D. (2019) Journal of Clinical Virology 122: January 2020, 104216, doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2019.104216
Suresh,S., Rawlinson, W.D., Andrews, P.I., Stelzer-Braid, S (2019) Global epidemiology of non-polio enteroviruses causing severe neurological complications: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reviews in Medical Virology, https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.2082
Parameshwaran, K., Sharmaa,P., Rajendra,S., Stelzer-Braid,S., Xuan, W., Rawlinson W.D. (2019) Circulating human papillomavirus DNA detection in Barrett’s dysplasia and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Diseases of the Esophagus, https://doi.org/10.1093/dote/doz064
Chughtai AA; Stelzer-Braid S; Rawlinson WD; Pontivivo G; Wang Q; Pan Y; Zhang D; Zhang Y; Li L; MacIntyre CR, (2019) Contamination by respiratory viruses on outer surface of medical masks used by hospital healthcare workers.’, BMC Infect Dis, vol. 19, pp. 491, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-019-4109-x
Walker GJ; Stelzer-Braid S; Shorter C; Honeywill C; Wynn M; Willenborg C; Barnes P; Kang J; Pierse N; Crane J; Howden-Chapman P; Rawlinson WD (2019) Viruses associated with acute respiratory infection in a community-based cohort of healthy New Zealand children.’, J Med Virol, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25493
Stelzer-Braid & Rawlinson, WD (2018) Outbreaks of acute flaccid myelitis in the US. British Medical Journal, 363:k5246.
Egilmezer E; Walker GJ; Bakthavathsalam P; Peterson JR; Gooding JJ; Rawlinson W; Stelzer-Braid S (2018) ‘Systematic review of the impact of point-of-care testing for influenza on the outcomes of patients with acute respiratory tract infection’, Reviews in Medical Virology, vol. 28, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rmv.1995
Isaacs SR; Kim KW; Cheng JX; Bull RA; Stelzer-Braid S; Luciani F; Rawlinson WD; Craig ME, (2018) ‘Amplification and next generation sequencing of near full-length human enteroviruses for identification and characterisation from clinical samples’, Scientific Reports, vol. 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-30322-y
Dyda, A., Stelzer-Braid, S., Adam, D., Chughtai, A.A., MacIntyre, C.R. (2018) The association between acute flaccid myelitis and Enterovirus D68 (EV- D68) – what is the evidence for causation? Eurosurveillance, 23(3), 18/Jan/2018. IF: 5.722.
Stelzer-Braid S., Liu N., Doumit M., D’Cunha R., Belessis Y., Jaffe A., Rawlinson W.D. (2017) Association of rhinovirus with exacerbations in young children affected by cystic fibrosis: Preliminary data. Journal of Medical Virology doi: 10.1002/jmv.24794.
Jensen, T.O., Stelzer-Braid, S., Willenborg, C., Cheung, C., Andresen, D., Rawlinson, W.D. and Clezy K. (2016) Outbreak of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) infection in immunocompromised adults on a hematology ward. Journal of Medical Virology, Oct;88(10):1827-31. DOI 10.1002/jmv.24521
Doumit, M., Belessis, Y., Stelzer-Braid, S., Mallitt, K., Rawlinson W.D., and and Jaffe A. (2015) Diagnostic accuracy and distress associated with oropharyngeal suction in cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, Jul;15(4):473-8. Doi: 10.1016/j.jcf.2015.09.001
Stelzer-Braid S., Tovey E.R., Willenborg C.M., Toelle B.G., Ampon R., Garden F.L., Oliver B.G., Strachan R., Belessis Y., Jaffe A., Reddel H.K., Crisafulli D., Marks G.B. and Rawlinson W.D. (2015) Absence of back to school peaks in human rhinovirus detections and respiratory symptoms in a cohort of children with asthma. Journal of Medical Virology, doi: 10.1002/jmv.24371.
Homaira N, Sheils J, Stelzer-Braid S, Lui K, Oie JL, Snelling T, Jaffe A and Rawlinson W. (2015), Respiratory syncytial virus is present in the neonatal intensive care unit. Journal of Medical Virology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmv.24325
Tovey E.R., Stelzer-Braid S., Toelle B.G., Oliver B.G., Reddel H.K., Willenborg, C.M., Belessis, Y. C., Garden, F.L., Jaffe, A., Strachan, R., Eyles, D., Rawlinson, W.D. and Marks, G.B. (2015) Rhinoviruses significantly affect day-to-day respiratory symptoms of children with asthma. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2014.10.020,
Willenborg C; Stelzer-Braid SJ (2013), ‘Sneezing leads to wheezing: microorganisms important in asthma’, Microbiology Australia, vol. 34, no. 3, http://microbiology.publish.csiro.au/?paper=MA13042
Wong KKY; Rockman S; Ong C; Bull R; Stelzer-Braid S; Rawlinson W, 2013, ‘ Comparison of influenza virus replication fidelity in vitro using selection pressure with monoclonal antibodies’, Journal of Medical Virology, vol. 85, no. 6, pp. 1090 – 1094, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmv.23532
Stelzer-Braid S., Johal H., Skilbeck K., Steller A., Alsubie H., Tovey E., Van Asperen P., McKay K. and Rawlinson W.D. (2012) Detection of viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens in patients with cystic fibrosis. Journal of Virological Methods 186:109-112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2012.08.008
Smedley E.J.*, Stelzer-Braid S.*, Ressler K.-A., Melling P., Bowden S., McCaw R., White P.A., Vickers C.R., Rawlinson W.D. and Ferson M.J. (2011) Transmission of hepatitis C virus to recipients of parenteral vitamin therapy in a primary care facility. Journal of Clinical Virology 51:105-109 *authors contributed equally http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2011.03.007
Wong K., Bull R., Stelzer-Braid S., Fennell M. and Rawlinson W. (2011). Effect of reassortment on the nucleotide and amino acid changes of human A/H3N2 RNP subunits during 1998-2009. Journal of Clinical Virology 51(4):270-5.
Deacon R., Wand H., Stelzer-Braid S., Treloar C. and Maher L. (2011) Improving surveillance for acute hepatitis C. Communicable Diseases Intelligence Vol 35(1): 16-20.
Wong K., Bull R., Rockman S., Scott G., Stelzer-Braid S. and Rawlinson W. (2011). Correlation of polymerase replication fidelity with genetic evolution of influenza A/Fujian/411/02(H3N2) viruses. Journal of Medical Virology 83(3):510-516.
Baleriola C., Rawlinson W.D., Dore G.J., Chaverot S., Stelzer-Braid S., Yoshihara M., Crawford D., Sievert W., McCaughan G., Weltman M., Cheng W., Rizkalla B., Dubois D., Thommes J. and Roberts S. (2010) Impact of low-level HCV viraemia at week 24 on HCV treatment response in genotype 1 patients. Antiviral Therapy, 16(2):173-80.
Stelzer-Braid S, Oliver BG, Blazey AJ, Argent E, Newsome TP, Rawlinson WD, Tovey ER (2009) Exhalation of respiratory viruses by breathing, coughing and talking. Journal of Medical Virology 81:1674-1679
