SPEAKING FACULTY 

A/Professor Stefan Blum
Associate Professor Stefan Blum is an experienced neurologist with special interest in Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology. Dr Blum specialises in immune disorders affecting the nervous system. He is an expert in the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases, which includes multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, autoimmune encephalitis as well as a range of other immune mediated diseases of nerve and muscle. Dr Blum has an active research interest in neuroimmunology, with a number of current projects, including antibody mediated encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica, myasthenia gravis and inflammatory neuropathies. Dr Blum completed his training as a neurologist in 2011. He has completed a PhD in Immunogenetics of Guillain-Barre Syndrome at The University of Queensland as well as a doctoral thesis in Immunology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Dr Katherine Buzzard
Dr Katherine Buzzard is the Clinical Lead of the MS and Neuroimmunology Service at Eastern Health and is a consultant in the MSNI unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She completed her BSc (Hons) and a PhD in cancer biology at the Peter Mac Callum Cancer Institute before embarking on her medical degree at The University of Melbourne in 2001. She graduated from medicine with honours in 2005. Dr Buzzard undertook her neurology specialty training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Alfred Hospital before being awarded the ANZAN overseas fellowship to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square London, United Kingdom. She has completed subspecialty fellowships in multiple sclerosis and neuroimmunology. She remains active in the academic research sphere, leading the MS and Neuroimmunology research program at the Eastern Clinical School, Monash University.

Dr Shadi El-Wahsh
Dr Shadi El-Wahsh is a locum staff specialist Neurologist and Neurophysiologist at Concord Hospital. He completed his neurology training at RPA and Concord Hospitals followed by an ANZAN fellowship to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. He has a special interest in neuromuscular junction disorders and is undertaking a PhD in the diagnostic evaluations of myasthenia gravis with A/Prof Stephen Reddel.

Dr Andrew Hunt

Dr Hunt is a Research Fellow at the Queensland University of Technology. His research focuses on understanding the effects of heat and enabling people to work and live well in hot weather. Dr Hunt has over 15 years of experience conducting research with clinical and occupational populations. His research has been cited in the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists’ Guide to managing heat stress, World Health Organization and World Meteorological Organization's workplace heat stress guidance, the Center for Climate & Security (United States), the National (United States) Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Disaster Research Response (DR2) Resources Portal, and UK parliamentary briefings on the public health impacts of hot weather.

Dr Laurie McLaughlin
Dr Laurie McLaughlin is a Consultant Neurologist & Neuroimmunologist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Hospital, coordinating subspecialty Neuroimmunology clinics at RBWH. She graduated with Honours from Griffith University, trained at Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH) and Mater Hospitals. She completed a Fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology with A/Prof Stefan Blum at PA Hospital. Her primary research interests are in Myasthenia Gravis (MG), with PhD candidature investigating clinical outcomes in this area. She contributes to a number of ongoing clinical trials in lead and associate investor roles within the Princess Alexandra (PA) Neuroimmunology Research Group. Outside of work, she is kept busy with two young daughters & enjoys long weekends exploring SEQ in the caravan, netball and a good coffee.

A/Professor Stephen Reddel
Associate Professor Stephen Reddel is a staff specialist neurologist at Concord Repatriation & General Hospital Sydney, and consultant neurologist at the Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney. He trained in neurology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, and has a PhD in the immunology of the Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome. He heads the neuroimmunology clinic at Concord Hospital, which specialises in the safe treatment of neurological conditions requiring immunotherapy, including multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy and a host of rarer diseases. Dr Reddel’s academic appointment is Associate Professor, Sydney University where he has been involved in the neurology course development, ensuring standards of institutional sartorial elegance, online lectures and teaching of medical students, post graduate clinical training and post graduate research student supervision. He has research interests in myasthenia gravis, examining the function of anti-MuSK antibodies and the homeostasis of the neuromuscular junction; in neuroimmunology and MS, and in neurogenetics including the muscular dystrophies and inherited neuropathies. 

Dr Craig Streatfeild
Craig holds a PhD in ecology and has spent the last 25 years working in environmental science, currently in the resources sector. He was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis 12 years ago, and for the past six years has been an active volunteer with the Myasthenia Gravis Association of Queensland (MGAQ) and Myasthenia Alliance Australia (MAA). He also represents MAA on the Neurological Alliance Australia (NAA), which advocates for people living with neurological conditions, including myasthenia gravis. Craig serves as a committee member of MGAQ and a board member of MAA, where he helps coordinate the organisations’ websites and online information — connecting the people who need help with the people who can provide it.