Whiteley has a long and proud history of supporting the communities that we are part of in Australia and around the world.
Whiteley has a long and proud history of supporting the communities that we are part of in Australia and around the world.
Whiteley is committed to building awareness and support for organisations that play a vital role in our community.
The Children’s Tumour Foundation (CTF) is the only dedicated support service for those impacted by Neurofibromatosis (NF) in Australia; a genetic condition that causes tumours to form on nerves in the body. NF is a life-long disorder with few treatment options and no cure. The CTF exists to provide a pathway from fear to hope by advocating for access to better services, investing in promising research, and empowering those impacted with knowledge, connections and support at every stage of their journey. Whiteley is a proud supporter of Children’s Tumour Foundation, and been a key sponsor of the Australian Neurofibromatosis Symposium.
A member based association of over 100 volunteer Australian and New Zealand medical professionals and others, ANZGITA, working with local partners, is regularly delivering gastroenterology and endoscopy training programs to doctors and nurses in AsiaPacific with the support of industry, professional groups, donors, governments and others.
Special Olympics provides year-round sports training in multiple sports as well as competition at local, state, national and international level. The pinnacle of their competition ladder is the World Games which is hosted on a four-year cycle in summer and winter sports. Special Olympics Australia also provide health and leadership programs and fundraising events. Whiteley is a proud supporter of their sporting events program.
One of Whiteley’s goals is to have safer, cleaner community environments through advanced cleaning technology. To ensure community health we are constantly developing new technologies which reduce the risks of healthcare associated infections. For more than 30 years Whiteley has worked collaboratively with universities both locally, nationally and across the world to achieves these goals.
Business Hunter is the largest regional peak business group in Australia, representing members across all business and industry sectors. Business Hunter is a not-for-profit member organisation dedicated to connecting people in business with what they need to succeed.
Hunter First is the pre-eminent group for leading businesses in the Hunter. It is an influential network of organisations with a significant presence, interest or stake in the region. Hunter First businesses belong to a collaborative, executive-level membership group that comes together to network, share ideas, hear from government leaders and industry experts, and advocate for common goals. Their engagement on regional, state and national issues helps shape the Business Hunter policy agenda.
HMA works collaboratively with key regional organisations to highlight the achievements of the Regions’ manufacturers and the importance of manufacturing in general. HMA acknowledges the significance of the Region’s proud manufacturing history, and is committed to ensuring manufacturing plays an integral role in inventing the Region’s future. Whiteley proudly supports HMA events and sponsor the ‘HMA Rising Star Award’.
Whiteley is an Australian manufacturer of infection prevention products including a range of surface disinfectants and hand sanitisers all of which have played a critical role within our hospital and medical network in the fight against COVID-19. Despite working day and night to keep Australian medical facilities in supply, Whiteley have also focused on donating over $500,000 of infection prevention products including V-Wipes™, Surfex® and Viraclean® to our neighbouring Pacific Nations since the Pandemic started.
Support and donations to Australia’s closest neighbours is not new for Whiteley. “Our company first engaged with Papua New Guinea in the early days of independence, and we have continued to supply products and educational support into the Papua New Guinea health care system over the many decades”, said Dr Greg Whiteley, Executive Chairman at Whiteley.
Covid is having a significant social and economic impact within our neighbouring nations. In Papua New Guinea for instance, infection rates are soaring and the products they need to prevent infection are in very short supply.
“A lot more needs to be done to support our neighbours and we urge Australian businesses to join the fight against COVID-19 in our Pacific Region” said Darran Leyden, Managing Director at Whiteley. “We would also like to see Government support, specifically enabling initiatives such as freight cost relief for donated products to enable businesses like ours to further increase the scale of our donation program’’.
In the spirit of reconciliation, Whiteley acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.
Whiteley offers advice, training and practical support for all of your infection prevention, medical device reprocessing, and professional cleaning needs.
You can view our product safety data sheets, technical bulletins and find out about the products from our range.
Speaker: Doctor Arthika Manoharan
Qualifications: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Sydney
Speaker Profile:
Arthika is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, having recently completed her PhD in collaboration with Whiteley Corporation, under the supervision of Dr. Theerthankar Das and A/Prof Jim Manos. Her research aims to tackle biofilm formation in recurrent and catheter associated urinary tract infections, using antioxidants to circumvent antibiotic resistance and decipher how these antioxidants influence host-pathogen interactions in the bladder. A microbiologist with extensive immunology experience, Arthika has worked in various projects ranging from studying CAR T cells to antibiotic resistant biofilms. With 6 publications under her belt, Arthika is an enthusiastic early career researcher interested in multidisciplinary research that combines fundamental and translational sciences. She is also an avid advocate for EMCRs in the medical sciences, having served extensively on various EMCR committees university wide and in professional bodies, including ASM.
Topic: Rethinking biofilm treatments in catheter associated urinary tract infections
Presentation Outline: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections are a major issue in hospitals and age-care facilities. Biofilm formation in catheters can often result in encrustation and occlusion of the catheter, resulting in lack of urinary drainage and severe dissemination of infection. In my research, we investigated the novel effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on biofilm formation and matrix disruption using an in vitro glass bladder model. Furthermore, we also investigate the influence of NAC in host pathogen interactions, to elucidate how we can influence host cellular interactions to enhance biofilm removal.
Speaker: Professor Slade Jensen
Qualifications: B.Med.Sc. (USyd) PhD. (USyd). FASM
Speaker Profile:
Slade is a Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in the School of Medicine, Western Sydney University and Research Director of the Antibiotic Resistance and Mobile Elements Group, and the Limb Preservation and Wound Research Group, both of which are based at the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research. He obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney focused on the role of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial evolution. His current research interests include the development of novel antimicrobials, the evolution of antibiotic resistance in hospital pathogens, such as ‘Golden Staph’, and the role of host-microbe interactions in disease progression, particularly in the context of diabetes-related foot ulcers.
Topic: Microbes, biofilms and diabetes-related foot ulcers
Presentation Outline: Slade will discuss how his team’s research has assisted in changing the understanding of the pathology of chronic ulceration in diabetic foot infections, from that of infection with planktonic bacteria to that of infection with biofilm. Due to the resistance of biofilms to antimicrobial penetration, increased emphasis is now given to removal of adequate volumes of tissue with debridement and the use of anti-biofilm compounds.
Speaker: Professor Kate Moore
Qualifications: MB BS Syd, MD Liv, FRCOG, FRANZCOG, CU
Speaker Profile:
Arthika is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, having recently completed her PhD in collaboration with Whiteley Corporation, under the supervision of Dr. Theerthankar Das and A/Prof Jim Manos. Her research aims to tackle biofilm formation in recurrent and catheter associated urinary tract infections, using antioxidants to circumvent antibiotic resistance and decipher how these antioxidants influence host-pathogen interactions in the bladder. A microbiologist with extensive immunology experience, Arthika has worked in various projects ranging from studying CAR T cells to antibiotic resistant biofilms. With 6 publications under her belt, Arthika is an enthusiastic early career researcher interested in multidisciplinary research that combines fundamental and translational sciences. She is also an avid advocate for EMCRs in the medical sciences, having served extensively on various EMCR committees university wide and in professional bodies, including ASM.
Topic: Rethinking biofilm treatments in catheter associated urinary tract infections
Presentation Outline: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections are a major issue in hospitals and age-care facilities. Biofilm formation in catheters can often result in encrustation and occlusion of the catheter, resulting in lack of urinary drainage and severe dissemination of infection. In my research, we investigated the novel effects of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on biofilm formation and matrix disruption using an in vitro glass bladder model. Furthermore, we also investigate the influence of NAC in host pathogen interactions, to elucidate how we can influence host cellular interactions to enhance biofilm removal.
Speaker: Associate Professor Greg Whiteley
Qualifications: FEHA, MASM, MSHEA, PhD, M Safety Sc, B App, Dip AICD
Speaker Profile:
Dr Greg Whiteley is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, a Fellow in the School of Medicine at Western Sydney University and is also the Executive Chairman of Whiteley Corporation. Assoc. Prof Whiteley’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Applied Science (Hawkesbury Agricultural College), a Master of Safety Science (University of New South Wales), a Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors (University of New England) and a PhD (Western Sydney University).
Dr Whiteley is a Life Fellow of Environmental Health Australia, a Member of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America and is a Member of the Australian Society of Microbiology. He currently serves as a director of the trade association known as ACCORD Australia, and also as an expert consultant to the Infection Control Committee for the Australian Dental Association. He has previously served on HE-023 with Standards Australia.
His on-going research interests focus on biofilms found within healthcare settings, healthcare hygiene and the cleanliness of medical devices. Findings from this research team include publications outlining the extent of biofilm problems within healthcare and other settings, monitoring solutions including ATP testing, and extensive findings on the cleaning and disinfecting implications from biofilms on healthcare surfaces and reusable medical devices.
Dr Whiteley has previously been an Industry Partner for an ARC Grant in conjunction with Macquarie University, a Collaboration Partner Study Director for an iMCRC Grant with the School of Medicine at Sydney University, the Study Director of a CRC-P Grant investigating novel diagnostic and treatment options for wound care co-jointly partnering with AMP Control and the University of Newcastle and Western Sydney University.
Dr Whiteley is currently the Executive Chairman of Whiteley Corporation. He bears ultimate responsibility under Commonwealth Legislation for the Therapeutic Goods registrations and the manufacturing license of the manufacturing location in Tomago. Dr Whiteley has additionally co-authored many patents and peer reviewed publications.
Topic: Advances in Biofilm Testing
Presentation Outline: This topic will provide an overview into key lessons and research findings on dry surface and wet surface biofilms and their impact on critical healthcare departments. Published research on the presence of biofilms containing viable multi-resistant organisms and the critical role of rigorous cleaning processes to prevent hospital acquired infections (HAI’s). Understanding why cleaning protocols must adapt to account for our new logic of the role of biofilms in bacterial survival and transmission of infections.