Overview
Background
Dr Adam Irwin is a Principal Research Fellow in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at The University of Queensland and Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. His research focuses on the early recognition of invasive infections and sepsis, and the optimal use of antimicrobials in children. He is the medical co-chair of the Queensland Paediatric Sepsis Program which was awarded a Global Sepsis Alliance award in 2020, and Queensland Health Excellence awards in 2022 for Healthcare Delivery and Consumer Engagement, and a member of the Australian Group on Antimicrobial Resistance-Kids Steering Committee. He is a recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship to investigate the management of multi-drug resistant gram-negative infections in children.
Adam studied at the University of Birmingham Medical School and completed training in Paediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology in London. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health in 2016. Prior to relocating to Queensland, he was secretary of the British Paediatric Allergy, Immunity and Infection Group.
Availability
- Associate Professor Adam Irwin is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, University of Birmingham
- Doctor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool
Works
Search Professor Adam Irwin’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Gram-negative neonatal sepsis in low- and lower-middle-income countries and WHO empirical antibiotic recommendations: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Wen, Sophie C. H., Ezure, Yukiko, Rolley, Lauren, Spurling, Geoff, Lau, Colleen L., Riaz, Saba, Paterson, David L. and Irwin, Adam D. (2021). Gram-negative neonatal sepsis in low- and lower-middle-income countries and WHO empirical antibiotic recommendations: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Medicine, 18 (9) e1003787, 1-20. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003787
Featured
2021
Journal Article
The use of continuous electronic prescribing data to infer trends in antimicrobial consumption and estimate the impact of stewardship interventions in hospitalized children
Channon-Wells, S., Kwok, M., Booth, J., Bamford, A., Konstanty, P., Hatcher, J., Dixon, G., Diggle, P. J., Standing, J. F. and Irwin, A. D. (2021). The use of continuous electronic prescribing data to infer trends in antimicrobial consumption and estimate the impact of stewardship interventions in hospitalized children. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 76 (9), 2464-2471. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkab187
Featured
2017
Journal Article
Predicting risk of serious bacterial infections in febrile children in the emergency department
Irwin, Adam D, Grant, Alison, Williams, Rhian, Kolamunnage-Dona, Ruwanthi, Drew, Richard J, Paulus, Stephane, Jeffers, Graham, Williams, Kim, Breen, Rachel, Preston, Jennifer, Appelbe, Duncan, Chesters, Christine, Newland, Paul, Marzouk, Omnia, McNamara, Paul S, Diggle, Peter J and Carrol, Enitan D (2017). Predicting risk of serious bacterial infections in febrile children in the emergency department. Pediatrics, 140 (2) e20162853, e20162853. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2853
2025
Journal Article
Impact of COVID-19 on antimicrobial stewardship activities in hospitalised children: a scoping review
Mohammed, Zabiuddin Ahad, Grant, Gary, Irwin, Adam D., Hattingh, Laetitia, Kalwaje Eshwara, Vandana, Okonkwo, Rose I. and Khan, Sohil (2025). Impact of COVID-19 on antimicrobial stewardship activities in hospitalised children: a scoping review. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 61 (3), 333-343. doi: 10.1111/jpc.16786
2025
Journal Article
Identification of distinct clinical profiles of sepsis risk in paediatric emergency department patients using Bayesian profile regression
Gilholm, Patricia, Raman, Sainath, Irwin, Adam, Lister, Paula, Harley, Amanda, Schlapbach, Luregn J. and Gibbons, Kristen S. (2025). Identification of distinct clinical profiles of sepsis risk in paediatric emergency department patients using Bayesian profile regression. BMJ Paediatrics Open, 9 (1) e003100, e003100-1. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2024-003100
2025
Journal Article
A rapid molecular detection tool for toxigenic M1UK Streptococcus pyogenes
Brouwer, Stephan, Das, Swairindhree, Hayes, Andrew J., Bertolla, Olivia M., Davies, Mark R., Walker, Mark J., Whiley, David M., Irwin, Adam D. and Tickner, Jacob A. (2025). A rapid molecular detection tool for toxigenic M1UK Streptococcus pyogenes. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 231 (2), e375-e384. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae437
2025
Journal Article
Antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococci spp. isolates from bloodstream infections in Australian children, 2013 - 2021
Williams, Anita, Coombs, Geoffrey W., Bell, Jan M., Daley, Denise A., Mowlaboccus, Shakeel, Bryant, Penelope, Campbell, Anita, Cooley, Louise, Iredell, Jon, Irwin, Adam D., Kesson, Alison, McMullan, Brendan, Warner, Morgyn S., Williams, Phoebe and Blyth, Christopher C. (2025). Antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococci spp. isolates from bloodstream infections in Australian children, 2013 - 2021. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 14 (2) piae110. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piae110
2025
Journal Article
P-812. Not Little Adults: Key Differences in Antimicrobial Resistance in Australian Bloodstream Isolates between Children and Adults, 2020-2021
Williams, Anita, Coombs, Geoff W, Bell, Jan, Daley, Denise A, Mowlaboccus, Shakeel, Bryant, Penelope A, Campbell, Anita Jane, Cooley, Louise, Howard-Jones, Annaleise, Iredell, Jon, Irwin, Adam D, McMullan, Brendan, Warner, Morgyn, Williams, Phoebe and Blyth, Christopher C (2025). P-812. Not Little Adults: Key Differences in Antimicrobial Resistance in Australian Bloodstream Isolates between Children and Adults, 2020-2021. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 12 (Supplement_1). doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofae631.1004
2025
Journal Article
Comparison of Random Forest and Stepwise Regression for Variable Selection Using Low Prevalence Predictors: A case Study in Paediatric Sepsis
Gilholm, Patricia, Lister, Paula, Irwin, Adam, Harley, Amanda, Raman, Sainath, Schlapbach, Luregn J. and Gibbons, Kristen S. (2025). Comparison of Random Forest and Stepwise Regression for Variable Selection Using Low Prevalence Predictors: A case Study in Paediatric Sepsis. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s10995-025-04038-1
2025
Conference Publication
Diagnosing pediatric sepsis with septicyte rapid host gene expression
Zimmerman, Jerry, Schlapbach, Luregn, Gibbons, Kristen, Cermelli, Silvia, Coin, Lachlan, Davis, Roy, Irwin, Adam, George, Shane, Navalkar, Krupa, Raman, Sainath, Yager, Thomas and Brandon, Richard (2025). Diagnosing pediatric sepsis with septicyte rapid host gene expression. 2025 Critical Care Congress, Orlando, FL United States, 23-25 February 2025. Philadelphia, PA United States: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. doi: 10.1097/01.ccm.0001104996.00108.d9
2024
Conference Publication
EMIT - event-based masked auto encoding for irregular time series
Patel, Hrishikesh, Qiu, Ruihong, Irwin, Adam, Sadiq, Shazia and Wang, Sen (2024). EMIT - event-based masked auto encoding for irregular time series. 2024 IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 9-12 December 2024. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icdm59182.2024.00044
2024
Journal Article
Antimicrobial resistance in Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from bloodstream infections in Australian children, 2013-2021
Williams, Anita, Coombs, Geoffrey W., Bell, Jan M., Daley, Denise A., Mowlaboccus, Shakeel, Bryant, Penelope, Campbell, Anita, Cooley, Louise, Iredell, Jon, Irwin, Adam D., Kesson, Alison, McMullan, Brendan, Warner, Morgyn S., Williams, Phoebe and Blyth, Christopher C. (2024). Antimicrobial resistance in Enterobacterales, Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates from bloodstream infections in Australian children, 2013-2021. Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, 13 (12), 617-625. doi: 10.1093/jpids/piae111
2024
Conference Publication
Development Of A ‘Train The Trainer’ Paediatric Sepsis Education Package To Support Local Educators
Moore, C., English, A., Harley, A., Irwin, A., O’Keefe, M., Raman, S. and Lister, Paula (2024). Development Of A ‘Train The Trainer’ Paediatric Sepsis Education Package To Support Local Educators. 12th World Congress on Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care, Cancun, Mexico, 1-5 June 2024. Philadelphia, PA United States: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. doi: 10.1097/01.pcc.0001085136.74096.8a
Featured
2024
Journal Article
Trends in Enterobacterales Bloodstream Infections in Children
Gibbs, Anna A.M., Laupland, Kevin B., Edwards, Felicity, Ling, Weiping, Channon-Wells, Samuel, Harley, David, Falster, Kathleen, Paterson, David L., Harris, Patrick N.A. and Irwin, Adam D. (2024). Trends in Enterobacterales Bloodstream Infections in Children. Pediatrics, 154 (4) e2023063532. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-063532
2024
Journal Article
Serum ganciclovir drug exposure in children receiving standard ganciclovir dosing
Yang, Wenyu, Irwin, Adam, Weerdenburg, Heather, McWhinney, Brett, Cole, Theresa, Lei, Alice, Han, Bing, Zhu, Xiao and Gwee, Amanda (2024). Serum ganciclovir drug exposure in children receiving standard ganciclovir dosing. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 68 (10) e0052524. doi: 10.1128/aac.00525-24
2024
Journal Article
Characterization of gram-negative bloodstream infections in hospitalised Australian children and their clinical outcomes
Wen, Sophie C. H., Harris, Patrick N. A., Forde, Brian, Permana, Budi, Chatfield, Mark D., Lau, Colleen L., Spurling, Geoffrey, Bauer, Michelle J., Balch, Ross, Chambers, Henry, Schlapbach, Luregn J., Clark, Julia E., Dougherty, Sonia, Blyth, Christopher C., Britton, Philip N., Clifford, Vanessa, Haeusler, Gabrielle M., McMullan, Brendan, Wadia, Ushma, Paterson, David L., Irwin, Adam D., on behalf of the PAEDS network, Carr, Jeremy, Vasilunas, Nan, Francis, Joshua R., Macartney, Kristine, Crawford, Nigel W., Wood, Nicholas, Buttery, Jim ... Glover, Catherine (2024). Characterization of gram-negative bloodstream infections in hospitalised Australian children and their clinical outcomes. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 79 (3), 734-743. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciae341
2024
Journal Article
Getting up to speed: Rapid pathogen and antimicrobial resistance diagnostics in sepsis
Liborio, Mariana P., Harris, Patrick N. A., Ravi, Chitra and Irwin, Adam D. (2024). Getting up to speed: Rapid pathogen and antimicrobial resistance diagnostics in sepsis. Microorganisms, 12 (9) 1824, 1-29. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12091824
2024
Journal Article
Australian Group on Antimicrobial Research surveillance outcome programs - bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance patterns from patients less than 18 years of age, January 2020 - December 2021
Williams, Anita, Coombs, Geoffrey W, Bell, Jan, Daley, Denise A, Mowlaboccus, Shakeel, Bryant, Penelope A, Campbell, Anita J, Cooley, Louise, Iredell, Jon, Irwin, Adam D, Kesson, Alison, McMullan, Brendan, Warner, Morgyn S, Williams, Phoebe and Blyth, Christoper C (2024). Australian Group on Antimicrobial Research surveillance outcome programs - bloodstream infections and antimicrobial resistance patterns from patients less than 18 years of age, January 2020 - December 2021. Communicable diseases intelligence (2018), 48 32. doi: 10.33321/cdi.2024.48.32
2024
Journal Article
Preventing adverse events during paediatric cancer treatment: protocol for a multi-site hybrid randomised controlled trial of catheter lock solutions (the CLOCK trial)
Ullman, Amanda, Takashima, Mari, Gibson, Victoria, Comber, Elouise, Borello, Eloise, Bradford, Natalie, Byrnes, Joshua, Cole, Roni, Eisenstat, David, Henson, Nicole, Howard, Philippa, Irwin, Adam, Keogh, Samantha, Kleidon, Tricia, Martin, Michelle, McCleary, Karen, McLean, Jordana, Moloney, Susan, Monagle, Paul, Moore, Andrew, Newall, Fiona, Noyes, Michelle, Rowan, Gemma, St John, Amanda, Wood, Andrew, Wolf, Joshua and Ware, Robert (2024). Preventing adverse events during paediatric cancer treatment: protocol for a multi-site hybrid randomised controlled trial of catheter lock solutions (the CLOCK trial). BMJ Open, 14 (7) e085637, 1-9. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-085637
2024
Journal Article
Host gene expression signatures to identify infection type and organ dysfunction in children evaluated for sepsis: a multicentre cohort study
Schlapbach, Luregn J., Ganesamoorthy, Devika, Wilson, Clare, Raman, Sainath, George, Shane, Snelling, Peter J., Phillips, Natalie, Irwin, Adam, Sharp, Natalie, Le Marsney, Renate, Chavan, Arjun, Hempenstall, Allison, Bialasiewicz, Seweryn, MacDonald, Anna D., Grimwood, Keith, Cling, Jessica C., McPherson, Stephen J., Blumenthal, Antje, Kaforou, Myrsini, Levin, Michael, Herberg, Jethro A., Gibbons, Kristen S., Coin, Lachlan J. M., EUCLIDS consortium and RAPIDS Study Group (2024). Host gene expression signatures to identify infection type and organ dysfunction in children evaluated for sepsis: a multicentre cohort study. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 8 (5), 325-338. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(24)00017-8
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Adam Irwin is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Gram-negative bloodstream infections in Australian children
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Geoff Spurling, Professor Colleen Lau, Mr Mark Chatfield
-
Doctor Philosophy
Accelerating pathogen detection and antibiotic resistance prediction in children with suspected sepsis.
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Whiley, Dr Patrick Harris
-
Doctor Philosophy
Rapid detection of AMR targets using isothermal technology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Whiley
-
Doctor Philosophy
New diagnostic strategies for antibiotic-resistant infections
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Patrick Harris
-
Doctor Philosophy
Rapid detection of AMR targets using isothermal technology
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Whiley
-
Doctor Philosophy
The development of an integrated molecular diagnostic pathway to optimise the treatment of cytomegalovirus in children undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplant
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kym Lowry, Associate Professor David Whiley, Dr Emma Sweeney
-
Doctor Philosophy
Expanding Data Sets to Allow Improved Critical Care for Children - Outpatient Risk Prediction
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Shazia Sadiq, Associate Professor Sen Wang
-
Doctor Philosophy
Rapid detection of AMR targets using isothermal technology.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Whiley, Dr Leah Roberts
-
Doctor Philosophy
The development of an integrated molecular diagnostic pathway to optimise the treatment of cytomegalovirus in children undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplant
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Kym Lowry, Associate Professor David Whiley, Dr Emma Sweeney
-
Doctor Philosophy
Extra-Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Africa - Prevalence, Associated Country-level Variables, and Assessment of Country TB Guidelines and National Strategic Plans
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Harley, Associate Professor Judith Dean, Professor Clare Nourse
-
Doctor Philosophy
Improving Sepsis Management through Better Data and Rapid Learning
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Burton-Jones, Associate Professor Ida Asadi Someh, Professor Marta Indulska
-
Doctor Philosophy
The Burden of Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in Africa
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Harley, Professor Clare Nourse, Associate Professor Judith Dean
-
Doctor Philosophy
Extra-Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Africa - Prevalence, Associated Country-level Variables, and Assessment of Country TB Guidelines and National Strategic Plans
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor David Harley, Associate Professor Judith Dean, Professor Clare Nourse
Media
Enquiries
Contact Associate Professor Adam Irwin directly for media enquiries about:
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Childhood infections
- Sepsis
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