Even Damien Stark of Caringbah South will admit his job title is "a bit of a mouthful". But it's a label he proudly wears, particularly at a time when he has achieved a high honour for his work.
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Dr Stark is the Principal Hospital Scientist in the Division of Microbiology, Molecular Diagnostics and Precision Medicine at St Vincent's.
It's a position he has held since 2018, but since 2002, he started there as a Senior Hospital Scientist in the Microbiology Department.
Dr Stark has received a King's Birthday Honour - Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division for service to medicine in the field of microbiology.
A Fellow in the Faculty of Science, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, among others, Dr Stark previously won the St Vincent's Hospital Excellence Award for Clinical Research in 2009.
To put his daily role into simpler terms, Dr Stark studies pathogenic micro-organisms within the clinical/medical field - examining any pathogenic organisms that infect humans.
"Infectious diseases are still quite prevalent in developed countries," Dr Stark said. "We've seen it with the recent COVID-19 outbreak but there's also thousands of different organisms that can infect people.
'We take the latest clinical research and implement that into routine diagnostics. Diagnostic micro-biology is important - unless a clinician has a definitive diagnosis they don't know how to treat the patient."
Currently in charge of the micro-biology department at St Vincent's, Dr Stark undertakes testing of samples that come through the lab from patients. "New technologies are coming out every year, as are emerging organisms," he said. "It's a constantly changing and evolving area of medicine."
Dr Stark has published more than 130 research articles. "I'm in my 50s and I couldn't envisage doing anything else - I've done it for so long," he said. "I have more years left in me."
