Dr Mohd Hafiz Abdul-Aziz currently leads the Clinical Dosing Studies and Knowledge Translation Workstream within the Antimicrobial Optimisation (AMO) Group and the Centre for Research Excellence for Personalising Antimicrobial Dosing to Reduce Resistance (CRE RESPOND) at UQCCR. His areas of interest include antimicrobial dosing in special patient populations, therapeutic drug monitoring, ex-vivo pharmacokinetic RRT and ECMO model experiments, and multicentre population pharmacokinetic studies. Over the past five years, he has led or coordinated eight multi-national antimicrobial pharmacokinetic studies, including the ASAP ECMO, BLING 3, BLING 3 PK/PD, and PNEUDOS studies.
Having obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours) from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) and Master of Clinical Pharmacy from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) he went on to complete his PhD from The University of Queensland in 2016 under the guidance and mentorship of Professor Jason Roberts, Associate Professsor Christine Staatz and Professor Jeffrey Lipman. His research journey began when he first sought to find ways to improve patient outcomes in the intensive care unit and he believed that this could potentially be achieved through the use of prolonged beta-lactam infusion dosing.
Hafiz is grateful to be working with and mentored by experts such as Professor Jason Roberts and Professor Jeffrey Lipman. Working with these two individuals provided an excellent opportunity to collaborate with and learn from other antibiotic experts. He cherished his experience working on a paper with the late Johan Mouton and has always regarded the paper as one of the best that he has ever produced.
Finding innovative ways to improve antimicrobial dosing in pneumonia patients in the intensive care unit is Hafiz’s current focus. He plans to design the best antimicrobial dosing regimen that increases the likelihood of therapeutic success for this patient population through the conduct of the PNEUDOS Study, which recruited patients from 20 ICUs across 6 countries.
Hafiz acknowledges that challenges are a constant and inherent part of research. But the overall support from the group helps him handle all the obstacles effectively. The CRE RESPOND network has provided invaluable guidance and encouragement to enable him to keep making significant progress in his research endeavours. With the CRE RESPOND support, Hafiz believes that “he was so ahead of the curve that the curve became a sphere”.
Hafiz’s advice to anyone pursuing a similar pathway to remain persistent and resilient. Challenges are a constant and inherent part of research, but don't let them discourage you. Build a strong support network of mentors, colleagues, and peers who can provide guidance and encouragement. Take advantage of collaborative opportunities to learn from others and expand your expertise. Stay curious, keep learning, and don't be afraid to ask questions. And when you have a bad day, just remember “you can do this with a broken heart!!!”
Outside of work, Hafiz loves sports and running. He’s also an avid Swiftie – in case you didn’t notice from the quotes above.
