Professor Nigel Crawford

BMBS ’96

By Kate Holland

 

In 1996, consultant paediatrician and vaccinologist Professor Nigel Crawford was just 17, driving from Canberra across the Hay Plains with his family to begin his study in Adelaide. Canberra didn’t offer a medical degree back then, so he’d applied at Flinders University instead. He lapped up all the opportunities the degree afforded him and started to seek out more.

Professor Crawford has an incredibly busy CV as Chair of Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, Director of Surveillance of Adverse Events Following Vaccination In the Community (SAEFVIC) and Melbourne Vaccine Education Centre (MVEC) which are both based at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, and Paediatric Consultant and Head of the Immunisation Service at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.

He also sits on numerous national and international committees for his expert knowledge and experience in vaccinations, immunisation policy and vaccines safety. It’s a list of accomplishments that he says Flinders helped him prepare for.

“Living in University Hall, I grew up reasonably quickly in a supportive place. I made good friends, inside and outside of medicine, and I have wonderful memories of playing footy for the Crabs. Being a bit smaller than some universities, I think it helped us make good connections. Even after taking a gap year and going back, I made great friends and colleagues,” says Professor Crawford.

“Back then we sat in dark lecture theatres watching rotating slides and taking lots of notes – or falling asleep. I was pretty good at the note taking but wouldn’t necessarily learn from them so well. Mates would borrow them and then often do better than me in the written exams. We spent a lot of time interacting in the library which is probably different now it’s all recorded.

“Career-wise, it set me up really well for the future. All the training and placements give you great exposure and get you ready for dealing with people and the real world of medicine. In fifth year, I travelled to Cape Town for an elective and saw some incredible things in a surgical ward, including conjoined twins. Working at the Repat hospital during final year was a real eye-opener. I’ll never forget writing up stout on meal charts for diggers! For my medical term I went to Port Lincoln for six weeks and I had my GP placement in Bateman’s Bay, NSW. I think you learn a lot from that diversity and venturing out of the metropolitan region.

“Also, despite being a Hawks supporter who had cans thrown at him at West Lakes, I became friends with then Crows player Matthew Liptak in my last few years at med school. That he could balance both activities says a lot about Flinders’ flexibility.”

While it appears that Professor Crawford followed in the footsteps of his paediatrician father, that wasn’t exactly on purpose. Initially he was determined “not to do what dad did” and thought he’d go into sports medicine. By the time he’d finished his undergraduate study and interned in Hobart, he thought he’d be an adult physician and moved to Melbourne under the adult program. Then he enjoyed his term of paediatrics so much it’s as if the role chose him.

Continuing to Explore

A big fan of the gap year, and gaining new life and work experiences, Professor Crawford then spent time working as a locum in England and travelling through Asia, before returning to Melbourne to start paediatrics as a trainee at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Expanding his skill set into vaccinology was still to come. Having completed his clinical exam, he took another overseas opportunity, this time in Cardiff, working for Dr Colin Powell, a UK paediatrician he’d originally met in Australia. He cites Dr Powell as an important mentor who he worked with for three years while doing his advanced training in paediatrics. And because Dr Powell was really keen on research, he also completed a Masters in Public Health at Cardiff University.

Professor Crawford says it really set him up for his next role back in Australia as a General Paediatric Fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital and part-time immunisation researcher, working for his other significant mentor Professor Jim Buttery. He continues to enjoy the blend of clinician and scientist roles to this day.

It was Professor Buttery who convinced him to do a PhD and sent him down the vaccine route. His research was into special risk patients and their vaccine requirements, so he learnt a lot about immunology and infectious diseases. Professor Crawford’s career progressed exponentially from there.

“I think it’s beneficial to be open-minded about your career path. You might have a set vision at the start for what you want to become but being able to retrain and have a go at different things brings a lot of flexibility and diversity, which can help when applying for new things,” he says.

Working for ATAGI

Professor Crawford joined ATAGI in 2014, at the same time as working as a paediatric consultant on vaccine safety and head of immunisation at the Royal Children’s Hospital. When the pandemic hit in 2020, he became part of the executive team, which was incredibly busy trying to provide regular clear advice to the service. He was also seconded from the hospital to the Victorian Department of Health for about 18 months to support their vaccine safety rollout and assist with clinical advice, evaluation and communication on both state and national levels.

It was, of course, a very intense time, particularly with Melbourne in extended lockdowns. Things moved very fast, but Professor Crawford says ATAGI remained committed to an evidence-based approach and adjusted its advice accordingly. He credits Flinders for teaching him to approach and conceptualise information this way during his early training.

As Director of MVEC, Professor Crawford also set up a podcast in 2020, COVID-19 Road to a vaccine, which he hosted on their website. He says he learnt a great deal over the 18 episodes, speaking with all kinds of different people involved with vaccines.

In 2021, Professor Crawford helped take on the business-as-usual team at ATAGI to assist with the work that had been neglected during COVID. He took on the role as Chair in 2021, which he holds until the middle of next year. The last few years may have provided steep learning curves, but new opportunities and learning curves are what fuel his motivation.

“Across my career, I’ve witnessed a mass psychogenic episode where a large group of girls fainted in succession following vaccination, and also seen the benefits of medical advancement firsthand, such as a young girl saved from certain death thanks to access to meningococcal treatment – a disease we now have two vaccines for,” he says.

“I’m constantly inspired by the difference technological advancement can bring. Most recently, seeing a two-year old with a severe major neuromuscular disorder getting around in a specialised wheelchair, for example, was amazing. I am excited about the future of medicine and passionate about preventative public health.”

Looking back, Professor Crawford’s particularly grateful for the fellowship from the College of Physicians that enabled him to take the Advanced Course of Vaccinology in France and establish contacts all around the world. He continues to savour the interactions his work brings with people locally, nationally and internationally. He also acknowledges the support along the way from his family, especially his wife Jenny and three boys, Otto, Archie and Gus.

As well as aiming to travel and take time out to rejuvenate, high on Professor Crawford’s ongoing agenda is seeking the questions that his areas of expertise can answer – a pursuit set to benefit us all.