university of melbourne immunology phd

Funding renewed for PhD program in infection and immunity

A $AU5 million grant from the German Research Foundation (DFG) has been matched by the University of Melbourne, extending a joint PhD program in infection and immunity research for the next five years.

The Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School is an international research training group (IRTG2168) that brings together immunologists from the two universities.

The program was established in 2016 and was initially awarded $AU10 million by the DFG and the University of Melbourne. Twelve jointly supervised graduate researchers from the first cohort have now completed their PhDs, with the remaining 17 candidates close to completion.

The renewal extends the program until 2025 which means the two universities can continue to provide a platform for research collaboration and innovation in the immunological disciplines. This is particularly important as the program focuses on basic principles of infectious disease that apply to SARS-CoV2 which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

University of Melbourne Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Jim McCluskey welcomed the funding renewal for the joint Bonn and Melbourne PhD program.

“The University of Bonn is an outstanding partner,” Professor McCluskey said.

“This flagship program has demonstrated the success of long-term collaboration, not only through joint research training but through our research partnership in Bonn’s ImmunoSensation2 Cluster of Excellence. We look forward to the next phase of this collaboration and to further strengthening our joint research with Bonn in other areas too.”

Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School Director and University of Melbourne Professor in Immunology Sammy Bedoui, based at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, said the funding renewal will enable additional research projects that further broaden the scope of the overall program.

“Eighteen PhD projects are now available in Bonn and in Melbourne, that are jointly supervised by world-leading experts in the field with complementary expertise and front-line research technologies in innate and adaptive immunity,” Professor Bedoui said.

“The 36 doctoral candidates will have access to scientific mentors at both locations, they will be enrolled at both universities and they will spend at least one year at the partner institution.”

Professor Christian Kurts, Co-Director of the IRTG2168 in Bonn said the grant renewal recognises the program’s success and achievements.

“We are extremely happy to be able to continue our successful partnership with Melbourne University and to be acknowledged for our exemplary international cooperation over the past four years. Everyone in the team is incredibly proud of our success.”

Professor Michael Hoch, Rector of the University of Bonn, said the cooperation between the institutions is exemplary.

“Our cooperation with the University of Melbourne in training doctoral students is leading by example, even beyond the field of immunology,” Professor Hoch said.

“Together with the University of Melbourne, we are working on establishing joint PhD programs in other disciplines, too. We want to offer our doctoral students the best possible training in an international setting. Due to its excellent research conditions, Melbourne is an ideal partner for this endeavour.”

21 Jul 2020

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The Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School is a joint PhD training program in immunology between the University of Melbourne and the University of Bonn .

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The Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) and The University of Melbourne  until 2025.

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• University of Melbourne
• Department of Microbiology and Immunology
• Katherine Kedzierska

Katherine Kedzierska University of Melbourne | MSD  ·  Department of Microbiology and Immunology

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Professor Laura Mackay

+61 3 8344 8016 | [email protected]

Professor Laura Mackay is a Laboratory Head and Immunology Theme Leader at The Doherty Institute. Laura is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and Bill & Melinda Gates International Scholar, a Dame Kate Campbell Fellow, a Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation Senior Medical Research Fellow, a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow, and in 2022 was the youngest ever Fellow elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. Laura obtained her PhD from The University of Birmingham, U.K. in 2009, before commencing a post-doctoral position with Professor Francis Carbone at The University of Melbourne. In 2016, she established her laboratory at The Doherty Institute.

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Laura has been at the forefront of research into tissue-resident memory T cells, resulting in publications in journals including Science , Nature , Nature Immunology , Nature Medicine, Science Immunology , Cancer Cell and PNAS . Laura has been listed as a Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate) annually since 2019. Her work has been recognised by multiple awards including the  AAMRI Rising Star Award (2023) , Jian Zhou Medal (2023) , LEO Foundation Award (Asia-Pacific) (2023) ,  The Prime Minister’s Prize for Frank Fenner Life Scientist of the Year (2019) , the Australian Academy of Science Gottschalk Medal (2019) , Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher (2019) , The Woodward Medal in Science and Technology (2019) , The Michelson Prize for Human Immunology (2018) , and the Victorian Young Tall Poppy Award (2016) . She serves on Editorial Boards including Cell , Science Immunology , and Trends in Immunology , and Strategic Advisory Boards including the Lymphoid Dynamics and HIV Persistence Program in South Africa, and the Singapore Immunology and Inflammation Cluster. Laura is also co-host on National Triple R Radio science show, Einstein-A-Go-Go and co-organiser of Global Immunotalks. Her research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council (ARC), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation, The Michelson Foundation and commercial partnerships.

The role of tissue-resident memory T cells in barrier immunity, cancer and autoimmune diseases

Infections are commonly acquired through barrier tissues such as the skin, gut and lung, hence establishing memory CD8+ killer T cell populations at these sites is critical for effective immune protection. Likewise, an effective local memory CD8+ T cell response is critical to cancer immunosurveillance, preventing the development and spread of solid tumours. While most memory T cells circulate in the blood, a distinct lineage, termed tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells, resides and remains in peripheral tissues. Our group has shown that these cells form a defensive barrier providing immediate local control of viral infection and cancer recurrence. Our current research focuses on developing novel strategies to boost TRM cell responses, and therefore exploit these cells in settings such as vaccination and cancer immunotherapy. Work in our laboratory also aims to understand the role of TRM cells in autoimmune conditions such as psoriasis and alopecia areata and investigate new approaches to eliminate pathological cells from peripheral tissues.

Understanding the fate decisions that govern memory T cell development

An effective immunological memory response is required for protection against disease throughout an individual’s lifetime. Following exposure to antigen, naïve T cells expand and differentiate to resolve an infection, after which memory T cells are formed to provide long-lasting protective immunity. The memory T cell pool can be partitioned into heterogeneous populations, each possessing different migratory and functional properties, and whose development relies on genetic regulators and environmental signals. Understanding these cell fate decisions provides an avenue to enhance immunological memory responses. Using various infection and tumour models, our group is investigating the regulatory cues and mechanisms that govern memory T cell development in different tissues, with a focus on the transcriptional networks that regulate commitment to various memory T cell lineages.

Identifying the mechanisms of immune cell development in peripheral tissues

It is now clear that various immune cell populations including T cells, innate lymphoid cells and NKT cells can establish tissue residency and persist long-term in peripheral tissues. Our group is interested in the role of the tissue microenvironment in shaping these immune cell populations and are studying the tissue-tropic factors and microbial signals that govern the environmental adaptation of immune cells to different tissues. We are also investigating the effect of commensalism and microbial experience on immune cell populations and tissue homeostasis. Our goal is to decipher the molecular framework for tissue-resident lymphocyte differentiation, which will provide a basis for targeting these cells in future immune cell-based therapies.

Whole body analysis of human T cell development and function

The majority of T cell responses occur in tissues; however, current knowledge of human T cells is largely derived from blood. In collaboration with the Australian Donation and Transplantation BioBank (ADTB), our group studies the T cell landscape in multiple lymphoid, visceral and barrier sites from research-consented organ donors. We seek to investigate immune cell distribution across the body and understand the pathways that guide T cell differentiation and maintenance in diverse tissue sites. Our work aims to better-inform the development of immunotherapies that modulate tissue-based cellular responses.

Laura Mackay Group

The Mackay Lab studies memory T cell responses, with a focus on the signals that control tissue-resident memory T cell differentiation, and a view to harness these cells to develop new treatments against infection, cancer and autoimmune conditions.

• Professor Laura Mackay Laboratory Head, Theme Leader in Immunology
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Congratulations to phoebe dewar, 2022 career advancement awardee.

Wednesday September 04, 2024

Congratulations to Phoebe Dewar 2022 ASI Career Advancement Awardee

My name is Phoebe, and I am a final year PhD Student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne.

In 2018 I completed my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences, majoring in Infection and Immunity at the University of Otago. Following this, I completed an honours research project and two summer internships at the University of Otago with Professor James Ussher, investigating the activation of mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cells. This interest in MAIT cells led me to Melbourne to pursue a PhD under the supervision of Dr Sidonia Eckle in Professor Jim McCluskey’s lab, beginning in 2020.

My PhD project focused on characterizing the response of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells during Plasmodium parasite infection, the causative agent of malaria. Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a subset of pro-inflammatory innate-like T cells that are highly abundant in human tissues and recognize small molecule metabolite antigens presented by the MHC class-I-like molecule, MR1.  A key aim was to determine if human MAIT cells respond to Plasmodium sporozoites, the parasite stage relevant to the initial infection. To address this, I successfully developed an in vitro assay that measures the response of human blood-derived MAIT cells to Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites and found that MAIT cell activation was dependent on MR1 antigen presentation. Riboflavin biosynthesis is the only known microbial source of MAIT cell antigen, but Plasmodium lacks the riboflavin biosynthesis pathway. Hence my data suggests a novel Plasmodium -derived MAIT cell antigen exists. Future work will focus on the identification of this antigen, characterizing the MAIT cell response to Plasmodium in greater depth, and understanding how this novel antigen could be utilized for a protective immune response.

In January 2024, I had the opportunity to attend and present a poster at the FIMSA Advanced Training Course and JSI conference in Chiba, Japan. The generous financial support from ASI via the Career Advancement Award, as well as FIMSA, was key to allowing me to attend this training course and conference. This was an invaluable experience that allowed me to hear and learn from many researchers at the forefront of their respective fields and specifically from some of the world leaders in innate-like T cell research. Also, the opportunity to receive feedback on my work and suggestions on the next steps for the project will be incredibly beneficial during the process of writing my PhD thesis and for my continued work on this project.

Thanks to ASI for the support to attend the FIMSA Advanced Training course and JSI.

Author: Phoebe Dewar

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ASI

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Huang named head of pathology & immunology

Physician-scientist renowned for expertise in human brain development, degeneration

by Marta Wegorzewska • September 12, 2024

Eric J. Huang, MD, PhD, a leader in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, will head the Department of Developmental Pathology & Immunology at WashU Medicine beginning in January.

Eric J. Huang, MD, PhD, a renowned physician-scientist specializing in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, has been named the Edward Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the Department of Pathology & Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. His appointment begins Jan. 1.

Huang comes to WashU Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he is a professor and vice chair of research for the Department of Pathology. His appointment was announced by David H. Perlmutter, MD , executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, the George and Carol Bauer Dean of the School of Medicine, and the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor.

“We are so fortunate to have Dr. Huang, an exceptionally talented physician-scientist, join our leadership team and the WashU Medicine community,” Perlmutter said. “With his leadership and expertise, we see enormous potential to advance the clinical practice and science in anatomic pathology, laboratory medicine and immunology with revolutions in imaging technologies and by applying artificial intelligence and the precision medicine paradigm to our efforts, which altogether will enhance our long-standing legacy as one of the most – if not the most – accomplished faculties in pathological and immunological sciences.”

Trained as a developmental biologist, Huang has made seminal discoveries in unraveling the complexities of human brain development. His laboratory focuses on understanding the processes involved in how the brain develops in utero and in infancy. In recent studies, he has identified how the human brain continuously produces specialized cells – GABAergic interneurons – during the prenatal period and then incorporates them into brain networks during infancy. His studies also have revealed how blood vessel cells develop in the prenatal human brain and how misguided immune cells increase the risk of brain hemorrhage in premature infants, helping to pave the way for future therapeutics to stop brain bleeds in preterm infants.

Huang’s research also focuses on understanding the drivers of frontotemporal dementia, the second most common cause of dementia in people under age 65. Work from his laboratory uncovered that over-reactive microglia – immune cells responsible for protecting the brain from infection and disposing of dead cells – promote excessive pruning of brain cell connections. He also found that such cells work with other brain cells called astrocytes to cause the damage to and loss of neurons implicated in frontotemporal dementia.

His research is funded by six major grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“It is an honor to join WashU Medicine in this role,” Huang said. “I am excited by the opportunity to build upon the strengths of a department that is leading the field in clinical innovation and research. WashU Medicine has a strong collaborative culture, which I aim to continue fostering within the department and with other disciplines. I am eager to support early-career faculty in becoming independent investigators and advancing our commitment to the success of trainees.”

Huang’s research has been published in top-tier journals, including Science, Nature and Cell, among others. His scientific accomplishments also have been recognized throughout his career. As a junior faculty member, he received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Most recently, he was elected as an academician to Academia Sinica, a leading academic institution in Taipei, Taiwan. He also is known as a dedicated mentor to PhD and MD/PhD students, postdoctoral trainees and early-career faculty.

Huang earned his medical degree from the National Taiwan University College of Medicine before completing his doctoral studies at the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in New York. He completed residency training in anatomic pathology, and fellowship training in neuropathology at UCSF, where he also stayed to complete a Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s postdoctoral fellowship. In 2000, he joined UCSF’s faculty.

Huang will succeed Richard J. Cote, MD , who has led the department since 2019. Cote will continue his research at WashU Medicine, where he studies tumor progression and response to therapy, and as a pathologist focusing on breast and genitourinary cancer diagnoses in patients seen at Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine.

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Comprehensive Cancer PhD Program

4 Minute read

The Comprehensive Cancer PhD Program is a supplementary learning opportunity to enrich your graduate research experience. The program offers an opportunity to share your research with other disciplines and expand your peer network.

You can find existing Graduate Research courses using our Find a Course search tool.

The Comprehensive Cancer PhD Program provides specialist cancer research training and support for PhD candidates. It complements your core PhD activities.

The program provides a unique opportunity for PhD candidates researching cancer-related topics to work together. It attracts PhD candidates from a range of disciplines.

To be eligible, you must be enrolled as a PhD student in a partner organisation. Together, these organisations form the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) alliance. Through this program, you will experience clinical and research activities across the alliance.

Upon completion, you will be ready to conduct world-class cancer research. The program will also prepare you for a wide range of career options. It does this by broadening the scope of your research knowledge. And by providing professional development and career training programs.

What are the key benefits?

Through the Comprehensive Cancer PhD Program, you will:

• experience clinical and research activities across the ten partners of the VCCC alliance
• understand the bench-to-bedside model. This model is fundamental to the VCCC approach to integrated research.
• enhance your academic progress and stay on track for timely completion of your PhD thesis
• access professional development and career training opportunities. These opportunities will prepare you for a broad range of career options.
• build your CV and give yourself a career advantage. Gain formal recognition of specialist cancer training and professional skills. You will receive a record of participation at the end of your candidature.
• access the Program’s online ‘Community’ resource. You will stay informed of activities. And you can access recordings of past seminars and events.
• network with students who have common research interests, from other organisations in the VCCC alliance.

Who facilitates this program?

• Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology
• University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research .

Through the program, you will build your CV and obtain a career advantage. You will have access to a coordinated program of skills, research and career training. This is in addition to your usual PhD activities.

Academic skills development

• Cancer-specific seminars and presentations
• Annual 'Methods in Cancer Research' seminar series
• core technologies
• intellectual property and commercialisation
• good clinical practice
• Annual three-day Thesis Boot Camp. This helps with writing your thesis and submitting it on time.
• Evaluation and discussion of scientific journal articles

Professional and career development

• Topics include networking, leadership, managing your candidature/supervisor, and preparing grant and fellowship applications.
• How to get the most out of a mentoring/coaching relationship.
• Getting help to identify internship and placement opportunities with industry/external groups.

Communication skills development

• preparing conference abstracts and posters
• writing and presentation
• Teaching opportunities, including the supervision of work placement students
• Community engagement activities.

Research seminar series

• Hallmark event for the Comprehensive Cancer PhD Program.
• Annual seminar series delivered in themed blocks of lectures.
• Each theme emphasises the bench-to-bedside model. It incorporates a range of topics from basic, translational and clinical research and impact on clinical outcomes.
• Past topics include: cancer immunology, cancer genetics and genomics, oncogenes and tumour suppressors, and pillars of cancer care.

Student Symposium

• Annual event held by postgraduate student societies. This event showcases student research as oral and poster presentations.

Grand debate

• Annual cancer-themed debate with participants from VCCC alliance organisations.

Chat with a Nobel Laureate

• Annual Q&A-style event with a Nobel Laureate.
• Social events and opportunities to connect with graduate researchers from other organisations. These people may have similar research interests to you.

Participate

To be eligible for this program, you must be:

• working on a cancer-related PhD project
• enrolled at one of the organisations of the VCCC alliance.

Download the program brochure to find out more.

Contact us for more information, or to join the program.

VCCC alliance organisations

• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
• The University of Melbourne Centre for Cancer Research
• The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
• Murdoch Children's Research Institute
• The Royal Melbourne Hospital
• The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
• The Royal Women's Hospital
• St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
• St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research
• Austin Health
• Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Institute
• Western Health
• Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre

First published on 21 February 2022.

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• Hope Barkoukis

Hope Barkoukis, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND

Chair of the Department of Nutrition, and the curriculum creator/faculty co-lead for the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Wellness and Preventive Care Pathway for medical students. The Mandel Pathway introduces medical students to stress reduction techniques, social well-being habits, nutrition, lifestyle and culinary medicine. In 2018 the Mandel Pathway received national recognition and an award for Innovation in Teaching future health care professionals from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Teaching awards include the 2019 Outstanding Dietetic Educator from Nutrition Dietetics Education Professionals and the Ohio Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Top Prof, and the John S. Diekhoff Graduate Award for teaching excellence from CWRU. Advanced training includes Culinary Coaching from Harvard University and the Institute for Lifestyle Medicine and advanced training in culinary arts. Countless culinary & nutrition educational sessions for students, consumers and professional audiences have been presented, including recently for ≥ 300 attendees at the Academy’s national Food, Nutrition and Exhibition.

Research experience ranges from the design of nutrition, food and culinary intervention studies; nutrition counseling of culturally diverse populations; competency in body composition techniques, respiratory calorimetry, energy balance determinations, nutritional status and dietary assessments, protein analyses, use of mass spec and stable isotopes for metabolic research. Several funded NIH research interventions have focused on manipulating the types of dietary carbohydrates and dietary glycemic index to achieve greater control of glucose response and substrate utilization using the dietary intervention I have created. I have significant expertise in collaborating with investigators across several disciplines.

Teaching Information

Teaching interests.

Nutrition for the aging and aged, culinary medicine, vitamins, nutrition for healthcare professionals, sports nutrition

Courses Taught

Office hours.

By appointment

Research Information

Research projects.

• In planning stages: Culinary medicine in dietetic education curriculum requirements and undergraduate education;
• This study will determine the effects of abnormal glucose utilization and flux through the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway on cell proliferation and nitric oxide deficiency in idiopathic PAH.
• Role: Co-Investigator
• This study investigates the impact of lifestyle interventions on maternal and infant outcomes. Nutrition students were/(continue to be) trained to be ‘lifestyle coaches’.
• This study is creating a consumer useful tool to assess contamination in over the counter dietary supplements and investigating the accuracy of this tool.

Awards and Honors

External appointments, publications.

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Selected Publications

• Eddie Hill, Hima Sapa, PhD, Lavinia Negrea, MD, Kristin Bame, MS, RDN, CSR, LD, Thomas Hostetter, MD, Hope Barkoukis, PhD, RDN, LD, FAND, Adriana Dusso, PhD, Mirela Dobre, MD. (2020). Effect of Oat B Glucan Supplementation: A feasibility Study. J Renal Nutrition, 30(3);208-215.
• ML Erickson, J Mey, CL Axelrod, D Paul, R Russell, H Barkoukis, G OTierney, JP Kirwan. (2020). Rationale and Study Design for Lifestyle Intervention on Preparation for Pregnancy (LIPP): A Randomized Clinical Trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials 94:106:624
• Sahera Dirajlal-Fargo, Jiao Yu, Majusha Kulkarni, Abdes Sattar, Nicholas Funderburg, Hope Barkoukis, Grace McComsey. (2019). Brief Report: Zinc Supplementation and Inflammation in Treated HIV. J Acquired Immune Def Syndrome, November 1:82(3);275-280.
• Barkoukis H, Swain J, Rogers K, Harris S. (2019). Culinary Medicine and the RDN: Time for a leadership role.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.01.012.
• Ritzenthaler, D., Chan, C., Papp, K. K., & Barkoukis, H. (2018). Zip, zap, zop: Improving medical student wellness. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33 (2 Supplement 1), 755-756.
• Hari A, Fealy C, Solomon T, Haus J, Kelly K, Barkoukis H, Kirwan, J. Exercise induced improvements in glucose effectiveness are blunted by high glycemic diet in pre-diabetics. Acta Diabetologicia, Jan 5, 2019. https://doi.org/10/.1007/s00592-018-1272-2

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The Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School

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Research Overview

The Bonn and Melbourne Research and Graduate School is a partnership between the University of Bonn in Germany and the University of Melbourne in Australia.

We offer a joint PhD training program in immunology between the two universities. Our PhD candidates are embedded in a structured program with scientific mentors at both locations.

Bonn-Melbourne PhD Program