Associate Professor Lauren Troy

Co-Director
 

Associate Professor Troy is a Senior Staff Specialist in the Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Department at RPA Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor with the Central Clinical School of Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney. Associate Professor Troy is internationally recognised for clinical and research expertise in interstitial lung disease and international pulmonology and played a leadership role in the Sydney Local Health District COVID-19 pandemic responses.

Awards
2022	Winner, Sydney Local Health District Recognition of Excellence in COVID-19 Response
2022	Winner, Sydney Local Health District Clinical Trial of the Year Prize (COLDICE Study)
2020	Nomination, University of Sydney David Church Central Clinical School Teaching Award
2019	Pulmonary Fibrosis Australasian Clinical Trials (PACT) Grant-in-Aid

 

Associate Professor Stephen Adelstein

Co-Director
 

Associate Professor Adelstein is Head of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy and Director of the Central Sydney Immunology Laboratory at RPA Hospital. Associate Professor Adelstein is also a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, a practitioner member and the immediate past Chair of the NSW Medical Board of Australia.
 

Mariana Sena Board

Deputy Director
 

Ms Sena Board has a Bachelor of Political Economy from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Health Services Management. She is a graduate of the prestigious Sydney Local Health District Graduate Health Management program and was a mentee of the Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive.

Prior to running the Institute for Academic Medicine, she was the Associate Director at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Institute of Academic Surgery, the Deputy Director of Clinical Support for Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Business Manager for the Concord Hospital Perioperative Department.
 

Professor Kate Wyburn

Head of the RPA Division of Medicine
 

Professor Wyburn is a senior staff specialist Nephrologist, Head of Kidney Transplantation, Deputy Director of Renal Services as well as Head of the RPA Division of Medicine. Her research interests include transplant immunology, living donor kidney transplantation, equity as well as donor suitability and organ allocation.
 

Dr Jacob Cao

Statistical Research Lead, RPA Institute for Academic Medicine

 

Dr Jacob Cao is a Cardiologist completing a PhD with the University of Sydney after receiving his Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Dr Cao trained at RPA Hospital and was the RPA Adult Congenital Heart Disease Fellow in 2025. His research spans basic science, cohort studies and meta analyses. Dr Cao has a Masters of Clinical Trials Research with the University of Sydney and a Master of Science in Medicine (Research) from the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. He joined the IAM as one of two Statistical Research Leads in 2025, providing critical input to the research challenges faced by clinician researchers in statistical analysis.

Professor Warwick Britton AO

Senior Advisor, Sydney Local Health District
 

Professor Britton is a Clinical Immunologist, Head of the Tuberculosis Research Program at the Centenary Institute, and Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney. He established the Sydney Local Health District Clinical Research Centre in 2014 to support clinical research and is committed to training a new generation of clinical researchers to improve healthcare.

Awards
2020	Emeritus Professor of Medicine University of Sydney
2015	Fellow of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
2014	Officer of the Order of Australia

 

Dr Patrick Cook

Affiliate Research Lead, RPA Institute for Academic Medicine

Dr Patrick Cook is a Basic Physician Trainee at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with a strong interest in cultivating research engagement among junior medical staff and trainees. He recently completed an MPhil in Population Health Sciences at the University of Cambridge within the MRC Epidemiology Unit, working with UK Biobank data.

Dr Alex Richardson

Research Manager, RPA and Concord Hospital Immunology and Allergy Departments

Dr Richardson has over 15 years of research experience in cell biology, advanced imaging and basic immunology, being awarded a BSc with first class Honour's and a PhD in Pathology. He has published 28 papers in the field of cell biology, immunology and ophthalmic science, and presented his work at national and international meetings and conferences. Moreover, he has experience in participant recruitment and clinical data management while working in laboratory quality assurance managing sample collection programs. As the inaugural incumbent research manager for Immunology, Dr Richardson is responsible for the day-to-day research governance activities of established investigations, as well as aiding researchers in establishing new project.

Dr Thomas Payne

Statistical Research Lead, RPA Institute for Academic Medicine
 

Dr Thomas Payne is a medical resident at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and is completing his PhD on the intersection of anaesthesia and neurology at the University of Sydney. He provides basic biostatistical support to projects in multiple fields, with an emphasis on Bayesian multilevel modelling as it relates to meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Dr Payne joined the IAM as a Statistical Research Lead in 2025.

Ms Tafline Walker

Clinical Trials Business Manager, RPA Respiratory and Sleep Medicine Department

Ms Tafline Walker is a senior clinical trial Business Manager who joined the Department of Respiratory Medicine at RPA in 2025. Tafline has over 7 years' experience working in clinical trials from study coordination right up to leading the administrative/regulatory/finance team at the Concord Haematology Clinical Research Unit. Tafline also has over 20 years of research experience across many fields including radiology, cardiology, pain management and renal medicine, publishing and co-authoring papers on hypertension and presenting at local and international conferences. Along with her many years of experience, she holds a Bachelor of Sciences, postgraduate studies in the Diploma of Leadership and Management and a passion for research. The IAM is thrilled to have Tafline as part of the team.

Dr Peter Bradhurst

Recipient - RPA Research Scholarship in Diagnostic Immunology

Dr Bradhurst is the inaugural recipient of the IAM and the RPA Department of Clinical Immunology's Research Scholarship in Diagnostic Immunology. His work focuses on improving the diagnosis and treatment of rare autoimmune diseases. Dr Bradhurst has introduced innovative laboratory approaches to support the diagnosis of complex immunological conditions. He is committed to delivering high-quality care for patients with rare autoimmune diseases and am actively involved in clinical trials exploring autologous CAR-T cell therapy as a novel treatment for refractory autoimmune disease.

Dr Thomas Hibbert

2026 Jane Bleasel Clinical Research Fellow - RPA Rheumatology

Dr Thomas Hibbert is the 2026 Jane Bleasel Clinical Research Fellow working with the Department of Rheumatology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Dr Hibbert completed his Basic Physician Training at RPA in 2025. He is undertaking a Master of Philosophy (Medicine and Health) with the University of Sydney focusing on connective tissue disease related pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Dr Thomas Guy

Head of Sydney Translation Immunology & Allergy Research Program and Rheumatology Advanced Trainee, RPA Hospital

Dr Guy is the Head of Sydney Translation Immunology & Allergy Research Program and Rheumatology Advanced Trainee, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He was a Basic Physician Trainee at RPA Hospital before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He is a Doctor of Philosophy with the University of Sydney and was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard.