Prof. Sheryl van Nunen is a Board Member of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Expert Panel and a Senior Advisor, Division of Respiratory, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, VINMEC International Hospital, Times City, Hanoi; Clinical Professor, Macquarie University; Clinical Associate Professor, The University of Sydney; Visiting Medical Officer and Consultant (Clinical Immunology and Allergy), Northern Beaches Hospital; Convenor of TiARA (Tick-induced Allergies Research & Awareness) www.tiara.org.au; Sydney, Australia. Prof van Nunen was Head, Department of Allergy, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia from 1985-2012 and Senior Staff Specialist, Clinical Immunology & Allergy, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia, from 1988-2020.
She graduated from The University of Sydney, Australia, in 1975, and was the inaugural Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in Clinical Immunology & Allergy in Australia in 1982. She was awarded her Master of Medicine (Sleep Health) in 2011.
Prof van Nunen first described world-wide the association between tick bites and the development of mammalian meat anaphylaxis/allergy and has written and researched this area extensively. Prof van Nunen has also made significant contributions to our knowledge of treatments for allergic rhinitis (Chief Investigator in 75% of all clinical trials for treatments for allergic rhinitis introduced to Australia between 1985 and 2016), immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis, the safety of intravenous immunoglobulin and, very proudly with her esteemed colleagues in Vietnam, has been involved in research in the pharmacogenomics of SCAR (Severe Adverse Cutaneous Reactions) in Vietnamese. Her Master’s research established infantile colic as a disorder of sleep arousal.
She has published over 190 papers (39 between 2018 and 2022) and been an invited reviewer for over 19 international journals. Prof. van Nunen has been invited to give lectures extensively in Australia and in Vietnam, New Zealand, Indonesia, USA, China, The Netherlands, Italy. She is an award-winning clinical teacher at Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney.
In recognition of her contribution to medicine, particularly to Clinical Immunology & Allergy, Prof van Nunen was honored with a Medal of the Order of Australia (2021) and also awarded a Rotary International Vocational Excellence Award (2017).
