A/Professor John Spicer graduated from the University of Melbourne and Alfred Hospital in 1959, before completing further training in medicine, surgery, psychiatry, O&G and paediatrics between 1960 -65. Following this he spent five years in a Baptist Mission Hospital in Bangladesh between 196670. He undertook post-graduate study in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Melbourne, Sydney and London between 1971-77 and later in the USA and Europe in 1984 and 1991. John was a Physician and then Director of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and HIV at the Alfred Hospital between 1975-99. He is Consultant Physician/Microbiologist to both the Alfred and Austin Hospitals. From 1975 to date, he has been Senior Lecturer and now Associate Professor in Microbiology at Monash University. Between 1990-99 he was Member then Chairman of Ministerial Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS and related diseases.

John is the founder author, continuing author and now senior author of Australian Antibiotic Guidelines from 1977 to date and is author, chairman and presenter of over 70 articles, posters and papers including a textbook on Clinical Bacteriology, Mycology and Parasitology.

John joined Dorevitch Pathology in 2004 and has special interest in antibiotic use, misuse and guidelines, tropical infections and tuberculosis, infections in the immunocompromised, hospital infections and infection control, HIV/ AIDS, laboratory automation and computerisation.