Ramon Zenel Shaban is an Australian nurse, paramedic, and academic specialising in communicable disease control, infection prevention, and emergency care. He is Clinical Chair of Communicable Disease Control and Infection Prevention at the University of Sydney and the Western Sydney Local Health District, and Associate Director of the New South Wales Biocontainment Centre. His research has addressed infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infections, and the development of frameworks for emergency nursing care.
Early life and education Shaban studied medical science at James Cook University, completing a Bachelor of Science in 1994 and a Postgraduate Diploma of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in 1996. He later qualified in nursing, earning a Bachelor of Nursing from the Queensland University of Technology in 2005. He went on to complete a Master of Community Health Practice with first-class honours and a Master of Education at Griffith University. He received his PhD from Griffith in 2011 for a thesis on paramedic clinical judgement and decision-making regarding mental illness in pre-hospital care.
Career Shaban began his career in clinical roles in paramedicine, infectious diseases, and emergency nursing, alongside teaching and education appointments with the Queensland Ambulance Service and Queensland Health. He joined Griffith University in 2005, progressing from lecturer to professor of infection prevention and control. At Griffith he also served as Deputy Head of School, Acting Dean of Learning and Teaching, and Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery. In 2013 he was appointed a full professor at age 38.
Between 2015 and 2017, Shaban was Clinical Chair of Infection Prevention and Control at Griffith University and the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service. In 2017 he was appointed the inaugural Clinical Chair of Communicable Disease Control and Infection Prevention at the University of Sydney and the Western Sydney Local Health District, a joint role combining academic and clinical leadership.
In addition to his Australian appointments, Shaban has advised the World Health Organization on antimicrobial resistance policy in the Western Pacific Region.
Research Shaban's research spans infection prevention and control, antimicrobial resistance, healthcare-associated infections, and emergency care. He has led national projects establishing minimum standards for infection control professionals and governance frameworks for infection prevention in hospitals and aged care facilities. His research also addresses antimicrobial resistance from a One Health perspective, examining human, animal, and environmental transmission routes, including the role of international air travel.
Editorial work Shaban is Editor-in-Chief of Australasian Emergency Care and Senior Editor of Infection, Disease & Health. He is a member of the World Association of Medical Editors and the Committee on Publication Ethics.
Public engagement Shaban has regularly appeared as a media commentator on infection prevention, disease control and public health. During the COVID-19 pandemic he gave numerous interviews to Australian television, radio and print outlets, including the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC News, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review, on topics such as the identification of early COVID-19 cases in New South Wales, social distancing and vaccination. His and colleagues' work extending hospital-style infection control to residential aged care through the HIRAID framework was covered by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2022, and he has continued to provide expert commentary on infection control and public health topics, including interviews with ABC News and the British Medical Journal.
Awards and honours Shaban has received a number of awards for research, leadership, and teaching. He was named an Outstanding Alumnus of James Cook University in 2016. In 2023 he received the Julie Finucane OAM Leadership Medal from the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia and the Philippa Moore Publication Prize. In 2025 he was recognised as an American Academy of Nursing Edge Runner for his contributions to the HIRAID emergency nursing framework.
Selected works Healthcare-Associated Infections in Australia: Epidemiology, Prevention and Control (editor). Elsevier, 2021. Paramedic Clinical Judgement and Decision-Making of Mental Illness in the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Setting: A Case Study of Accounts of Practice. PhD thesis, Griffith University, 2011. Mitchell, B.G., Shaban, R.Z., MacBeth, D., Wood, C.J., & Russo, P.L. (2017). "The burden of healthcare-associated infection in Australian hospitals: a systematic review of the literature." Infection, Disease & Health, 22(3), 117–128.
Publications Authored or edited books Shaban, R.Z., Mitchell, B., Russo, P. & Macbeth, D., editors. (2023). Healthcare-associated infections in Australia: Principles and practices of infection prevention and control. 1st ed. Sydney: Elsevier. Curtis, K., Ramsden, C., Fry, M., Shaban, R.Z., Lord, B., editors. (2023). Emergency and Trauma Care for Nurses and Paramedics. 4th ed. Sydney: Elsevier. Shaban, R.Z., Mitchell, B., Russo, P. & Macbeth, D., editors. (2021). Epidemiology of Healthcare-associated Infections in Australia. 1st ed. Sydney: Elsevier. Curtis, K., Ramsden, C., Shaban, R.Z., Fry, M. & Considine, J., editors. (2019). Emergency and Trauma Care for Nurses and Paramedics. 3rd ed. Sydney: Elsevier.
References
External links Google Scholar