Princess Alexandra Hospital Emergency Medicine Specialist and Toxicology lead, Associate Professor Katherine Isoardi has been awarded for Excellence in Leadership for her vision, dedication and clinical impact in her specialty of Clinical Toxicology.
Her influence extends beyond PA Hospital, and even Metro South Health, with a leadership role as the Medical Director of the Queensland Poison’s Information Centre, and President of the Toxicology and Poisons Network Australia.
A passionate educator, she has pioneered toxicology education in Australia, training five clinical toxicologists, supervising another five, and establishing the nation’s first toxicology subspecialisation program for both nursing and pharmacy.
“Growth and sustainability of the specialty are essential for the future so breaking down traditional training silos was key to enhancing workforce capability in Toxicology,” Dr Isoardi said.
“A point of pride in developing our multidisciplinary workforce was the creation of Australia’s first Nurse Practitioner in Toxicology which has been a real innovation in the delivery of clinical care in the Emergency Department.”
The expansion of the PAH Toxicology Service under her leadership moved the single-site model at PAH to a regional service across Metro South Health which is now accessible to all facilities with the added introduction of a virtual toxicology consult service in Queensland’s southeast.
“My goal was always to directly impact the length of stay for patients who are poisoned or envenomed which has a direct system impact on ED access block and patient flow,” she said.
Dr Isoardi’s leadership also extends to research translation and championing innovation - a key part of the nomination which secured her the Metro South Health Excellence in Leadership award for 2025.
Under her guidance, the PAH Toxicology Unit has produced over 80 peer-reviewed publications since 2017, contributing to national and international improvements in poisoned patient care.
“Fostering research opportunities across disciplines with a broad range of clinicians develops our capacity to engage in meaningful and practice-changing research to influence guidelines across Australia and embed interprofessional collaboration that improves care.
“Too often poisoned patients are overlooked,” she said. “My work is about making sure they aren’t.”
Congratulations Dr Isoardi. Thank you for leading with purpose, integrity, passion, and inspiring all those around you.