Prof Bill Rawlinson AM is the Senior Medical Virologist and Director of Virology at South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Health Service. He is Director of the Area virology reference laboratory, a virology clinical trials unit, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) licensed laboratory testing organs donors for blood borne viruses, and the virology research laboratory.
Prof Rawlinson completed his MBBS and BSc(Med) at the University of Sydney in 1983, then obtained his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Infectious Diseases, and subsequently specialised in virology, receiving his Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia in Microbiology. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, in 1994, for his studies of the genomes of human and murine CMV. Prof Rawlinson is now a molecular virologist with particular scientific expertise in herpes viruses (CMV), hepatitis virus (HCV), enteroviruses, and respiratory viruses.
His contributions to science includes new testing algorithms for common viral illnesses, sequencing and analysis of the murine CMV genome, unique studies of congenital CMV and the placenta, unique data on endogenous viruses and cancer, and he continues to directly supervise projects within these areas. Prof Rawlinson has received multiple awards in science (see below), and is on advisory boards to the NSW and Commonwealth Departments of Health.
Projects & Research Interests
Program 1: CMV pathogenesis, placental infection and adverse pregnancy outcomes
During pregnancy, human cytomegalovirus (CMV) can infect the placenta, and the developing fetus, resulting in congenital CMV illness. There are ~2000 Australian infants born each year with congenital CMV infection, and ~10% develop symptoms including sensorineural hearing loss and mental disability. Understanding pathogenesis of CMV infection is critical for developing more effective treatments for congenital CMV.
These studies investigate pathways of CMV-induced placental damage, transplacental transmission, and factors influencing disease outcome. We have discovered CMV modulates signaling pathways involved in placental development and are now further characterizing these changes in experimental models of human primary placental cells, which allow experiments that are not possible in pregnant women. Ultimately this work aims to prevent congenital CMV.
Project leader: Dr Stuart Hamilton, Stuart.Hamilton@health.nsw.gov.au
Program 2: Enteroviruses and Type I Diabetes
Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes (T1DM) is increasing rapidly in our community and we do not know why. Enteroviruses are the most common viruses affecting children and have been linked to childhood T1DM. We have found enterovirus infections are more common in children who develop diabetes associated autoantibodies (an early marker of diabetes) and at onset of T1DM, compared with controls. Little is known about the mechanism by which the viruses induce apoptosis and/or functional impairment of pancreatic ß-cells.
This study will investigate the molecular characteristics of enterovirus isolates in children at risk of developing diabetes and the abilities of enteroviruses to induce cellular and functional damage of ß-cells.
Project leader: A/Prof Maria Craig, m.craig@unsw.edu.au
Program 3: Respiratory Viruses
Respiratory infections are a common cause of illness and an important cause of death in the community. The recent outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 shows there is much to be understood about the transmission and containment of respiratory viruses. We are running a statewide surveillance into enterovirus infections, to determine phylogenetic relationships of viruses isolated from patients suffering from severe disease including meningitis and paralysis.
Project leader: Dr Sacha Stelzer-Braid, sacha.stelzerbraid@health.nsw.gov.au
Program 4: Clinical Molecular Diagnosis of Blood-borne Viruses’ Transmission
Research projects include the development and evaluation of real-time molecular techniques for the rapid characterisation of blood-borne viruses (HIV, HCV, HBV and CMV) and use of these tests in investigating cases of transmission, particularly in health-care settings, and tissue and organ transplantation.
Project leader: Dr Vidiya Ramachandran, vidiya.ramachandran@health.nsw.gov.au
Selected Awards
2008-2009 RCPA Visiting Professorship
2007-2011 NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship
2005 Fenner Australian Society for Microbiology Prize
1995 Award for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases, Glaxo
1992 The Eric de Bunsen Award, King’s College (Cambridge, UK)
1990-1991 The Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholarship in Medicine
1989-1993 Overseas Research Students ORS Award, Committee of vice-chancellors and principals of the universities of the UK (University of Cambridge)
1989 Royal Australasian College of Physicians MSD Fellowship in Infectious Diseases
1985-2000 The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Fellowship
1979 BSc(Med) student research award (Eli-Lilly)
Selected Publications
For up-to-date list of publications
2019
Chughtai, A.A., Stelzer-Braid, S., Rawlinson, W. Pontovivo G, Wang Q, Yang P, Zhang D, Li L, MaciIntyre CR (2019) Contamination by respiratory viruses on outer surface of medical masks used by hospital healthcare workers. BMC Infect Dis 19, 491 doi:10.1186/s12879-019-4109-x
Craig ME, Kim KW, Isaacs SR, Penno MA, Hamilton-Williams EE, Couper JJ, Rawlinson WD (2019) Early life factors contribnuting to type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-019-4942-x
Kim KW, Allen DW, Thomas Briese, Jennifer J Couper, Simon C Barry, Peter G Colman, Andrew M Cotterill, Elizabeth A Davis, Lynne C Giles, Leonard C Harrison, Mark Harris, Aveni Haynes, Jessica L Horton, Sonia R Isaacs, Komal Jain, Walter Ian Lipkin, Grant Morahan, Claire Morbey, Ignatius CN Pang, Anthony T Papenfuss, Megan AS Penno, Richard O Sinnott, Georgia Soldatos, Rebecca L Thomson, Peter Vuillermin, John M Wentworth, Marc R Wilkins, Rawlinson WD, Craig ME (2019) Distinct Gut Virome Profile of Pregnant Women With Type 1 Diabetes in the ENDIA Study, Open Forum Infectious Diseases 6(2):ofz025 https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofz025
Kim, K.W., Horton, J.L., Pang, C.N.I., Jain, K., Leung, P., Isaacs, S.R., Bull, R.A., Luciani, F., Wilkins, M.R., Catteau, J., Lipkin, W.I., Rawlinson, W.D., Briese, T., Craig, M.E. (2019) Higher abundance of enterovirus A species in the gut of children with islet autoimmunity Nature Scientific Reports, 9 (1), art. no. 1749
Kim K.W., Allen D.W., Briese T., Couper J.J., Barry S.C., Colman P.G., Cotterill A.M., Davis E.A., Giles L.C., Harrison L.C., Harris M., Haynes A., Horton J.L., Isaacs S.R., Jain K., Lipkin W.I., McGorm K., Morahan G., Morbey C., Pang I.G.N., Papenfuss A.T., Penno M.A.S., Sinnott R.O., Soldatos G., Thomson R.L., Vuillermin P., Wentworth J.M., Wilkins M.R., Rawlinson W.D. and Craig M.E. (2019) Higher frequency of vertebrate-infecting viruses in the gut of infants born to mothers with type 1 diabetes. Pediatric Diabetes (accepted 25/11/2019)
Lazzaro A, Vo M, Zeltzer J, Rawlinson W, Nassar N, Daly K, Lainchbury A, Shand A. (2019) Knowledge of Congenital Cytomegalovirus (CMV) in pregnant women in New South Wales (NSW) is low and improved with education. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2019:1-7
Huynh K, van Zuylen W, Ford C, Rawlinson WD (2018) Selective modulation of Wnt-binding receptor tyrosine kinase ROR2 expression by human cytomegalovirus regulates trophoblast migrationournal Journal of General Virology 1-6 DOI 10.1099/jgv.0.001179
Zheng QU, Huynh K, van Zuylen W, Craig ME, Rawlinson WD (2018) Cytomegalovirus Infection in Day Care Centres: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prevalence of Infection in Children. Reviews of Medical Virology 29:e2011
Rawlinson WD, Palasanthiran P (2019) Measles (Letter). New England Journal of Medicine 381(20):1979
Kok CC, Ramachandran V, Egilmezer E, Ray S, Walker GJ, Rawlinson WD (2019) Serological testing for infectious diseases markers of donor specimens from 24 hours after death show no significant change in outcomes from other specimens. Cell and Tissue Banking (in press 25/11/19).
Nunez C, Morris A, Teutsch S, McGregor S, Bortherton J, Novakovic D, Rawlinson W, Jones C, Thorley B, Elliott E (2019) Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit Annual Report 2018. Communicable Diseases Intelligence 43: https://doi.org/10.33321/cdi.2019.43.53)
Shand, A., Palasanthiran, P., Rawlinson, W.D. (2019) Pre-conception care: an important yet underutilised preventive care strategy (2019) Medical Journal of Australia, 210 (9), pp. 429-429.e1.
MacIntyre, C.R., Heslop, D.J., Nand, D., Schramm, C., Butel, M., Rawlinson, W., Baker, M., Kiedrzynski, T., Nelson, C., Rosewell, A., Fotualii, L., Yeo, K., Elsgaard, J., Fonua, L. and Lane, J.M., 2019. Exercise Mataika: White Paper on response to a smallpox bioterrorism release in the Pacific. Global Biosecurity, 1(1):91–105. DOI: http://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.10
Sacha Stelzer-Braid, Matthew Wynn, Richard Chatoor, Matthew Scotch, Vidiya Ramachandran, Hooi-Ling Teoh, Michelle A Farrar, Hugo Sampaio, Peter Ian Andrews, Maria E Craig, C Raina MacIntyre, Hemalatha Varadhan, Alison Kesson, Philip N Britton, James Newcombe, William D Rawlinson (2019) Next generation sequencing of human enterovirus strains from an outbreak of enterovirus A71 shows applicability to outbreak investigations. Journal of Clinical Virology 2019:104216
Yean H Ewe, Pamela Palasanthiran, William D Rawlinson, Brendan McMullan (2019) Importance of vaccine history in suspected measles. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (in press)
Suresh S, Rawlinson WD, Andrews PI, Stelzer-Braid S (2019) Global epidemiology of nonpolio enteroviruses causing severe neurological complications: A systematic review and meta?analysis. Reviews of Medical Virology (in press)
Walker GJ, Stelzer-Braid S1,2, Shorter C3, Honeywill C3, Wynn M1, Willenborg C1, Barnes P3, Kang J3, Pierse N4, Crane J3, Howden-Chapman P4, Rawlinson WD (2019) Viruses associated with acute respiratory infection in a community-based cohort of healthy New Zealand children. J Med Virol. 2019;1-7.
Waller K, De La Mata NL, Patrick J Kelly, Vidiya Ramachandran, William D Rawlinson, Kate R Wyburn and Angela C WebsterAC (2019) Residual risk of infection with blood?borne viruses in potential organ donors at increased risk of infection: systematic review and meta?analysis. Med J Aust || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50315
(Editorialised in the MJA as Kotecha S, Williams TJ (2019) Extending the criteria for acceptable organ donors: balancing the risks Medical Journal of Australia editorial , and Swannell C, Viral screening: increasing organ donor numbers, Medical Journal of Australia online 14 October 2019)
Karen Waller, Nicole De La Mata, James Hedley, Brenda Rosales, Patrick Kelly, Kate Wyburn, Michael O’Leary, Elena Cavazzoni, Vidiya Ramachandran, William Rawlinson, Angela Webster (2019) Assessment of blood borne viruses risk in organ donation: Use of linked health data to identify missed opportunities and transmissions in an Australian cohort. Transplantation 103(11s):s39-s40
Wong DD, Wendy J. van Zuylen,a,b Stuart T. Hamilton,a,c Mirjam Steingruber,e Eric Sonntag,e Manfred Marschall William D. Rawlinson (2019) Patient-Derived Cytomegaloviruses with Different Ganciclovir Sensitivities from UL97 Mutation Retain Their ReplicationEfficiency and Some Kinase Activity In Vitro. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 63:e02425-18
Wong DD, Wendy J. van Zuylen, Craig ME, William D. Rawlinson (2019) Systematic review of ganciclovir pharmacodynamics during the prevention of cytomegalovirus infection in adult solid organ transplant recipients. Reviews of Medical Virology 29:e2023-2034
Yong, M. K., Gottlieb, D. , Lindsay, J. , Kok, J. , Rawlinson, W. , Slavin, M. , Ritchie, D. , Bajel, A. and Grigg, A. (2019), New Advances in the Management of Cytomegalovirus in Allogeneic Haemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation. Intern Med J. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/imj.14462
Coffey MJ, THE INTESTINAL VIROME IN CHILDREN WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS DIFFERS FROM HEALTHY CONTROLS(abstract) MJ Coffey, I Low, S Stelzer-Braid, B Wemheuer, M Garg, T Thomas, A Jaffe, W Rawlinson, CY Ooi. PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY 54:S260-S260
K Parameshwaran, P Sharma, S Rajendra, S Stelzer-Braid, W Xuan, W D Rawlinson, Circulating human papillomavirus DNA detection in Barrett’s dysplasia and esophageal adenocarcinoma, Diseases of the Esophagus, , doz064, https://doi.org/10.1093/dote/doz064
Augustine P Pancreas size and exocrine function is decreased in young children with recent?onset Type 1 diabetes P. Augustine R. Gent J. Louise M. Taranto M. Penno R. Linke Couper JJ on behalf of the ENDIA Study Group
Outbreaks of acute flaccid myelitis in the USS Stelzer-Braid, W Rawlinson Bmj 363, k5246
2018
Rawlinson WD, Palasanthiran P, Hall B, Al Yazidi L, Cannon MJ, Cottier C, van Zuylen WJ, Wilkinson M. (2018) Neonates with congenital Cytomegalovirus and hearing loss identified via the universal newborn hearing screening program. J Clin Virol. May;102:110-115.
Shand AW, Luk W, Nassar N, Hui L, Dyer K, Rawlinson W. (2018) Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and pregnancy-potential for improvements in Australasian maternity health providers’ knowledge. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. Oct;31(19):2515-2520
Allen DW, Kim KW, Rawlinson WD, Craig ME. (2018) Maternal virus infections in pregnancy and type 1 diabetes in their offspring: Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Rev Med Virol. May;28(3):e1974.
2017
Rawlinson WD, Boppana SB, Fowler KB, Kimberlin DW, Lazzarotto T, Alain S, Daly K, Doutré S, Gibson L, Giles ML, Greenlee J, Hamilton ST, Harrison GJ, Hui L, Jones CA, Palasanthiran P, Schleiss MR, Shand AW, van Zuylen WJ. (2017) Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy and the neonate: consensus recommendations for prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. Lancet Infect Dis. Jun;17(6):e177-e188.
Stelzer-Braid S, Liu N, Doumit M, D’Cunha R, Belessis Y, Jaffe A, Rawlinson WD. (2017) Association of rhinovirus with exacerbations in young children affected by cystic fibrosis: Preliminary data. J Med Virol. Aug;89(8):1494-1497.
Hall B, Wong D, Healy C, Tracy MB, Tracy SK, Rawlinson WD. (2017) The presence of vaginal Lactobacillus species does not contribute to a measureable difference in amniotic fluid lactate levels collected from the vaginal tract of laboring women. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. Apr;96(4):487-495.
Lau KA, Theis T, Gray J, Rawlinson WD. (2017) Ebola Preparedness: Diagnosis Improvement Using Rapid Approaches for Proficiency Testing. J Clin Microbiol. Mar;55(3):783-790.
Homaira N, Briggs N, Pardy C, Hanly M, Oei JL, Hilder L, Bajuk B, Lui K, Rawlinson W, Snelling T, Jaffe A. (2017) Association between respiratory syncytial viral disease and the subsequent risk of the first episode of severe asthma in different subgroups of high-risk Australian children: a whole-of-population-based cohort study. BMJ Open. Nov 8;7(11):e017936.
Hutterer C, Milbradt J, Hamilton S, Zaja M, Leban J, Henry C, Vitt D, Steingruber M, Sonntag E, Zeitträger I, Bahsi H, Stamminger T, Rawlinson W, Strobl S, Marschall M. (2017) Inhibitors of dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinases (DYRK) exert a strong anti-herpesviral activity. Antiviral Res. Jul;143:113-121.
Bartlett AW, McMullan B, Rawlinson WD, Palasanthiran P. (2017) Hearing and neurodevelopmental outcomes for children with asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection: A systematic review. Rev Med Virol. 2017 Sep 6.
2016
Kim KW, Ho A, Alshabee-Akil A, Hardikar AA, Kay TW, Rawlinson WD, Craig ME. (2016) Coxsackievirus B5 Infection Induces Dysregulation of microRNAs Predicted to Target Known Type 1 Diabetes Risk Genes in Human Pancreatic Islets. Diabetes. Apr;65(4):996-1003.
Stelzer-Braid S, Tovey ER, Willenborg CM, Toelle BG, Ampon R, Garden FL, Oliver BG, Strachan R, Belessis Y, Jaffe A, Reddel HK, Crisafulli D, Marks GB, Rawlinson WD. (2016) Absence of back to school peaks in human rhinovirus detections and respiratory symptoms in a cohort of children with asthma. J Med Virol. Apr;88(4):578-87.
Naing ZW, Scott GM, Shand A, Hamilton ST, van Zuylen WJ, Basha J, Hall B, Craig ME, Rawlinson WD. (2016) Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy: a review of prevalence, clinical features, diagnosis and prevention. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. Feb;56(1):9-18.
Sonntag E, Hamilton ST, Bahsi H, Wagner S, Jonjic S, Rawlinson WD, Marschall M, Milbradt J. (2016) Cytomegalovirus pUL50 is the multi-interacting determinant of the core nuclear egress complex (NEC) that recruits cellular accessory NEC components. J Gen Virol. Jul;97(7):1676-85.
Lusk MJ, Garden FL, Rawlinson WD, Naing ZW, Cumming RG, Konecny P. (2016) Cervicitis aetiology and case definition: a study in Australian women attending sexually transmitted infection clinics. Sex Transm Infect. May;92(3):175-81.
Homaira N, Sheils J, Stelzer-Braid S, Lui K, Oie JL, Snelling T, Jaffe A, Rawlinson W. (2016) Respiratory syncytial virus is present in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Med Virol. Feb;88(2):196-201.
Homaira N, Oei JL, Mallitt KA, Abdel-Latif ME, Hilder L, Bajuk B, Lui K, Ferson M, Nurkic A, Chambers GM, Rawlinson WD, Snelling T, Jaffe A (2016) High burden of RSV hospitalization in very young children : a data linkage study. Epidemiology & Infection 144 :1612-1621
Jensen TO, Stelzer-Braid S, Willenborg C, Cheung C, Andresen D, Rawlinson WD, Clezy K (2016) An outbreak of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in immunocompromised adults on a haematology ward. Journal of Medical Virology. doi: 1002/jmv.24521.
van Zuylen WJ, Ford CE, Wong DDY, Rawlinson WD (2016) Human Cytomegalovirus Modulates Expression of Noncanonical Wnt Receptor ROR2 To Alter Trophoblast Migration. Journal of Virology 90(2): 1108-1115
van Zuylen WJ, Rawlinson WD, Ford CE. (2016) The Wnt pathway: a key network in cell signalling dysregulated by viruses. Rev Med Virol. Sep;26(5):340-55.
Lim KL, Hewitt J, Sitabkhan A. Eden JS, Lun J, Levy A, Merif J, Smith D, Rawlinson WD, White PA (2016) A Multi-Site Study of Norovirus Molecular Epidemiology in Australia and New Zealand, 2013-2014. PLoS ONE 11(4)
2015
Tovey ER, Stelzer-Braid S, Toelle BG, Oliver BG, Reddel HK, Willenborg CM, Belessis Y, Garden FL, Jaffe A, Strachan R, Eyles D, Rawlinson WD, Marks GB. (2015) Rhinoviruses significantly affect day-to-day respiratory symptoms of children with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. Mar;135(3):663-9.e12
Gralton J, McLaws ML, Rawlinson WD. (2015) Personal clothing as a potential vector of respiratory virus transmission in childcare settings. J Med Virol. Jun;87(6):925-30.
Naing Z, Webel R, Hamilton S, Schmeiser C, Scott G, Marschall M, Rawlinson W. (2015) Stimulatory effects of human cytomegalovirus tegument protein pp71 lead to increased expression of CCL2 (monocyte chemotactic protein-1) during infection. J Gen Virol. Jul;96(Pt 7):1855-62.
Morère L, Andouard D, Labrousse F, Saade F, Calliste CA, Cotin S, Aubard Y, Rawlinson WD, Esclaire F, Hantz S, Ploy MC, Alain S. (2015) Ex vivo model of congenital cytomegalovirus infection and new combination therapies. Placenta. Jan;36(1):41-7
Martinez MC, Kok CC, Baleriola C, Robertson P, Rawlinson WD. (2015) Investigation of occult hepatitis B virus infection in anti-hbc positive patients from a liver clinic. PLoS One. Mar 12;10(3):e0117275
Gordon A, Raynes-Greenow C, Bond D, Morris J, Rawlinson W, Jeffery H. (2015) Sleep position, fetal growth restriction, and late-pregnancy stillbirth: the Sydney stillbirth study. Obstet Gynecol. Feb;125(2):347-55.
Jensen TO, Robertson P, Whybin R, Chambers I, Lahra M, Rawlinson W, Post JJ. (2015) A signal-to-cutoff ratio in the Abbott architect HIV Ag/Ab Combo assay that predicts subsequent confirmation of HIV-1 infection in a low-prevalence setting. J Clin Microbiol. May;53(5):1709-11
CF322 Stelzer-Braid S, Tovey E, Willenborg C, Toelle B, Ampon R, Garden F, Oliver B, Strachan R, Belessis Y, Jaffe A, Reddel H, Crisafulli D, Marks G, Rawlinson WD (2014) Absence of back to school peaks in human rhinovirus and asthma exacerbations in a cohort of children with asthma contrasts to community incidence of disease exacerbations. TZANZ 2015 Gold Coast (Abstract)
CF323 Burrows F, Ramachandran V, Rawlinson WD (2014) Importance of pharmacokinetic (PK) considerations in the development of ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus (GR-CMV) infections after lung transplantation (LTX). International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation Annual Meeting Nice April 2015 (Abstract)
CF324 Kim KW, Ho A, Al Shabeeb A, Hardikar AA, Rawlinson WD, Craig ME (2015) Coxsackievirus B5 infection induces dysregulation of microRNAs predicted to target known Type 1 diabetes risk genes in human pancreatic islets. Islet Society Meeting July 2015 Sydney (Abstract)
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