Our Immunologist Staff

Dr Riminton is a Clinical Immunologist and Immunopathologist in Sydney, and Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Sydney. He is Head of Department of Immunology at Concord Hospital and co-founded the Clinical Neuroimmunology service at Concord Hospital. His clinical subspecialty interests include mechanisms of immune pathology, immune intervention pharmacotherapy, personalised medicine, patient safety, neuroimmunology, HIV medicine and other immunodeficiency.

Dr Riminton's research background includes molecular basis of autoimmune pathology in the central and peripheral nervous system, cytokine biology, anti-cytokine autoimmunity, the role of vaccine adjuvants on autoimmune pathology, primary immunodeficiency, the relationship between cancer and immunity, best practice use of immunoglobulin therapy, and immunosuppression risk management. He has championed the need to professionalise patient safety practice in clinical immune interventions.

He is a member of the Multiple Sclerosis Research Australia Grants Committee. He is a Fellow of the National Blood Authority of Australia and was a key driver and author of the National Criteria for Immunoglobulin Use though the National Blood Authority. He was a medical advisor to the Federal Plasma Fractionation Review. He is the founding Chair of the Immune Deficiency Foundation of Australia, the first Australian national patient representative body for PID.  Dr Riminton designed and implemented the web-based ASCIA Register of Primary Immunodeficiency Diseases (PID) for Australia and New Zealand and is a founding investigator on the Australia and New Zealand Antibody Deficiency Allele Study (ANZ-ADA).

He was a Board member of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine and assisted with development of the International focus of ASHM in HIV education and antiretroviral access in the region, including Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

Clinical Associate Professor Sandhya Limaye graduated with Honours from the University of Adelaide and completed specialist Immunology and Immunopathology training in Sydney at Concord, Liverpool and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals. Following completion of PhD studies at the University of Sydney with research in B cell signalling and biology, she undertook a further year of clinical Immunology training in Dublin, Ireland. In addition to her clinical role, Sandhya is the current Director of Wellbeing at Concord Hospital and has previously held the roles of Network Director of Physician Training and Director of Assistants in Medicine. She was the previous Honorary Associate Editor of Clinical Immunology for the British Medical Journal Case Reports publication.

Sandhya's clinical interests are broad and include patient-focussed care around the diagnosis and management of food and drug allergy, autoimmunity, immune-mediated interstitial lung disease and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis. She contributes to the interstitial lung disease multidisciplinary meeting at Concord and Macquarie Hospitals and was a co-author on the recent TSANZ position paper on the diagnosis and management of chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Sandhya has multiple research and review publications in diverse areas of Immunology including COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and myopericarditis, granulomatous mastitis, progestogen hypersensitivity and inflammatory myositis.

Dr Jessie Lee is a consultant with dual specialist qualifications in Clinical Immunology/Allergy and Pathology at Concord Hospital and in private practice. She received her medical degree from the University of New South Wales and physician training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, before undertaking her specialist Immunology training in the Central Sydney Immunology Network.

Dr Lee is the current Network Director of Physician Training at Concord Hospital. She is an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and is involved in national Basic and Advanced Training governance. She is a Lecturer at the University of Sydney, and developed and co-ordinates the Immunology component of the Master of Internal Medicine program.

Dr Lee is a prolific clinical trials researcher, and is the lead investigator in clinical trials in atopic dermatitis (eczema), urticaria (hives), allergic rhinitis (hayfever) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). At Concord Hospital, she runs clinics in general Immunology, adolescent Immunology and anaphylaxis.

Dr Peter Bradhurst obtained his medical degree from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and completed joint Clinical Immunology and Immunopathology Training at Royal Prince Alfred and Liverpool Hospitals. He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and Royal College of Pathologists Australasia (FRCPA).

In addition to clinical practice at Concord Hospital, Dr Bradhurst is an avid researcher in immunology and currently completing a PhD with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney. His areas of research interest include creating diagnostic tests for rare immunological diseases, autoimmune diseases and assessment of the immune response in the laboratory. He was awarded the inaugural Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Scholarship in Diagnostic Immunology as well as the RCPA Foundation Postgraduate Research Fellowship for his current research work. Dr Bradhurst is a Clinical Lecturer with the University of Sydney.

Dr Alexander Headley obtained his MBBS from the University of Sydney in 2004. He completed his internship and residency training at Concord Repatriation General Hospital before entering physician training.  Dr Headley trained as a specialist in clinical immunology and allergy at several Sydney hospitals gaining experience in treatment of allergic disorders, autoimmune disease, as well as primary and secondary immunodeficiency.

He has also worked as a Clinical Research Fellow for the George Institute for International Health.  Dr Headley is qualified as both a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (FRCPA). He works as a Visiting Medical Officer in Clinical Immunology / Allergy in the Department of Clinical Immunology and Allergy at Concord Repatriation General Hospital. He also works in private practice in Sydney. He has an interest in chronic spontaneous urticaria and atopic dermatitis.

Dr Alex Richardson completed a BSc in Pathology with first class honours at the University of Sydney, examining the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic cancer, before working in a clinical immunology laboratory, gaining experience in various analytical techniques. He then completed a PhD at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) investigating the physiological and pathological functions of adult stem cells in the cornea.

This led to post-doctoral experience at UNSW, including national and international collaborations in immunology and cell biology, resulting in numerous publications in high-quality academic journals. Finally, Dr Richardson lead patient recruitment and sample management at the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs, providing samples that helped maintain the quality of clinical laboratories throughout the world.

During his career, Dr Richardson has developed extensive experience in both academic and clinical research, research communication, student supervision, and research governance.

Martina Rafferty the Immunology/ HIV Clinical Nurse Consultant at Concord Hospital and has worked in Concord since 2010. Martina has worked in a variety of hospitals and departments over the years, including Gynaecology, Renal, Vascular, Dialysis and Clinical trials. Her passion has been to look after people living with illness, such as HIV, Immunology, Allergy and Neuroimmunology conditions and she strives to help these people to be the contact person between the patient and the specialist.

She has been instrumental in setting up the Subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) home training program, for Concord Hospital, in conjunction with Dr Sandhya Limaye, Immunologist.

She has been involved in working groups to help improve HIV services, within the District and also helps coordinates services for Yaralla House, which is a residential unit for people living with HIV.

She is a member of the National Allergy Association (ASCIA), and HIV associations such as ASHM and ASHHNA.

Marisa Chansawang is a Clinical Nurse Specialist working in the Immunology Department at Concord Hospital.

Marisa completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Australian Catholic University in 2018. She has spent her entire nursing career since then at Concord Hospital, gaining sub-specialty experience in the Burns Unit as well as inpatient and outpatient haematology and oncology services. She has completed a Graduate Certificate of Clinical Nursing in Oncology and is currently undertaking a Masters of Clinical Nursing. She joined the Immunology Department in 2023 and is passionate about caring for people living with immunologic conditions.

Her current duties include attending to the health needs of individuals with immunodeficiencies, autoimmunity and allergic conditions. She is responsible for performing allergy testing, administering treatments such as allergen immunotherapy, coordinating infusional treatments such as immunoglobulin replacement therapy and is a safety net for patients in the community receiving immunosuppressive therapies.

She is a member of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA). Marisa is actively involved in educating her nursing colleagues on optimising the care of patients with immunologic conditions.