News and Events
Dr Liyen Loh is this year's recipient of the QIAGEN PhD Achievement Award (July, 2008)
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QIAGEN proudly sponsors the QIAGEN PhD Achievement Award to recognise highly productive PhD students from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. This year, the Award has been presented to Liyen Loh from Kent laboratory for her successful PhD studies. Liyen has established novel kinetic analyses of CTL escape in SIV Gag epitopes. She subsequently used these assays to show that vaccination influences the rates of viral escape and reversion. Liyen's PhD work has resulted in 7 publications, with 3 of those being first-author manuscripts. Liyen has presented her studies both nationally and internationally and contributed to teaching in the Department. The award was presented by the QIAGEN Business Director Dr Hun-Sun Hwang and Head of Department Professor Jim McCluskey. |
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| Pictured from left to right : Dr Liyen Loh, the QIAGEN Business Director Dr Hun-Sun Hwang and Head of Department Professor Jim McCluskey. | ||
 The Department of Microbiology and Immunology gratefully
acknowledges the contribution of QIAGEN in sponsoring this award.
QIAGEN provides
innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation,
purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins and has
developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 320 proprietary,
consumable products for nucleic acid and protein separation, purification
and handling, nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated
instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products and related services. |
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Recent publication by Professor Stephen Kent and his colleagues featured as Reuters article
The importance of the publication "Control of Viremia and Prevention of AIDS following Immunotherapy of SIV-Infected Macaques with Peptide-Pulsed Blood", published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Pathogens, is highlighted by the fact that Reuters chose to publish an article on it.
Because of copyright restrictions we cannot include the Reuters article here but it is available on line.
The publication is also available on line.
Premier gives 3 out of 4 Medical Research Awards to Department of Microbiology & Immunology (June 2008)
The 2008 Premier's Award for Health and Medical Research was presented in a special ceremony at Government House on June 5. PhD student, Linda Wakim (Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Carbone laboratory), was awarded a prestigious commendation from Premier John Brumby for her pioneering work on killer T cells.The Award recognises the outstanding contributions made by early career health and medical researchers to Victoria's leading role in health and medical research in Australia. Fellow commendee and PhD scholar Hilary Hoare (Monash University) was co-supervised by Jamie Rossjohn and Andrew Brooks (Department of Microbiology and Immunology). The winner, Benjamin Wei from the Bionic Ear Institute (University of Melbourne), worked on streptococcal meningitis following Cochlear implants under the co-supervision of Roy Robins-Browne (Department of Microbiology and Immunology). Priscilla Kelly, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute also received a commendation for her research into preventing lymphoma formation. The Award is a joint initiative of the Victorian Government and the Australian Society for Medical Research.
[Further information - Press release from Premier's office ; Premier's Award Booklet (pdf 2.5MB)]
Professor Brendon Crabb appointed as Director of the Burnet Institute
Professor Brendon Crabb, formerly a Veterinary Science PhD student and senior lecturer in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was appointed as Director of the Burnet Institute in March this year.
Following his PhD graduation (from the University of Melbourne) in 1992 he joined the staff of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Prior to his appointment as Director of the Burnet Institute, he was head of the malaria research laboratory within the infection and immunity division of WEHI. He has a international reputation as an outstanding medical researcher.
He is also a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Principal Research Fellow and an International Research Scholar at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (USA). He received the David Syme Research Award in 2006 for his work toward developing a malaria vaccine.
[Source: Melbourne University Magazine for Alumni, April edition 2008]
Dr Misty Jenkins Update
The Melbourne University Magazine for Alumni (April 2008) featured an article on Misty, her current work, her reaction to Australia's apology to its indigenous people, and her recollections of her time in the Department.
Dr Jenkins is presently a research associate at the University of Cambridge where her research is focused on the mechanisms of T cell cytotoxicity. This is a far cry from her days as an undergraduate student at the University of Melbourne when she had to work part-time so that she could afford to continue her studies. She has fond recollections of her time spent in the Department and of the support and stimulus received from her PhD supervisors Professor Peter Doherty and Dr Stephen Turner.
The article gives an insight into a person who is proud of her Gunditjmara heritage and acutely aware of the poor health status of many of the indigenous people of Australia. She plans to return to Australia at the conclusion of her studies in Cambridge and to integrate her research interests with Aboriginal health issues.
[Source: Melbourne University Magazine for Alumni, April edition 2008]
Professor William Ross Heath FAA - newly elected Fellow to the Australian Academy of Science
Professor Heath was one of 17 of Australia's leading scientists to be made a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science on March 19. Election to the Academy is in recognition of an individual's significant contribution to scientific knowledge in their specialist area.
Professor Heath's election to the Australian Academy of Sciences was in recognition of his work on the immune response to pathogens.
Professor Heath will be joining the Department in June as an ARC Federation Fellow
[See WEHI for further details
[Australian Academy of Science]
Professor Stephen Kent and Dr Damian Purcell, and co-investigators Dr Rob De Rose and Dr Rob Center, co-recipients of NHMRC program grant
Prof Stephen Kent and Dr Damian Purcell, together with co-investigators Dr Rob De Rose and Dr Rob Center, are part of a multi-centre team which has recently been awarded a 5 year $17.7 million 2009 NHMRC program grant.
The development of vaccines and better treatments for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C are urgent global health priorities.
The Program Grant will be used to undertake studies which will give a better understanding of effective immunity against HIV and hepatitis C, thus allowing the rational design and testing of novel vaccines and treatments. The multi-centre team includes researchers with skills in basic virology, immunology, and expertise in translating findings in the laboratory into human clinical trials.
[Source: Successful Program Grants for 2009 - NHMRC website]
Professor James McCluskey awarded Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist Award (December 2007
Professor James McCluskey, head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sicences, has recently been awarded the prestigious Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist Award by the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. This award, made in recognition of Professor McCluskey’s work in immunogenetics, the study of how genes control immunity, has never before been made to an Australian.
‘This area of research underpins our understanding of the basis for individual differences in response to infections, cancer and susceptibility to autoimmune diseases,’ Professor McCluskey said.
Immunogenetics is also concerned with how genetic differences between a donor and recipient determine the outcome of solid organ and blood stem cell transplantation.
Professor McCluskey is currently President of the International Histocompatibility Workshop Group that convenes collaboration between research groups around the world. His award was followed by a lecture at the 33rd Annual Scientific meeting of the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI), held in Minneapolis, USA. ASHI is the main scholarly body that oversees both technical and scientific aspects of organ transplant matching in the US and is the largest society of its kind in the world. ASHI also governs the standards of laboratory practice in transplant matching in North America, Canada and most of Asia.
The Rose Payne Distinguished Scientist Award was established by ASHI in 1984 to honour Stanford University Professor Rose Payne for her long-standing contribution to the field of immunogenetics.
[Source: Faculty of Medicine, Dentisty and Health Sciences website]A new book by Professor Peter Doherty (November 2007)
Melbourne Unversity has recently published "A Light History of Hot Air" (MUP RRP $32.95) which is described as "an atmospheric pleasure of a book ... about balloons, national symbols, hydrogen, large and small wars, spontaneous combustion, with cameos from Albert Einstein, Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens, Thomas the Tank Engine and the Charles Schultz".
See the recent interview with Prof Peter Doherty on hot air which was reported in The University of Melbourne Voice [Vol. 1, No. 18 12 - 26 November 2007] and a review which appeared in the The Sydney Morning Herald.
Also see "The Beginner's Guide to Winning the Nobel Prize" by Peter Doherty (MUP 2005).
NHMRC and ARC Funding (October 2007)
NHMRC Grants
- Dr John Stambas awarded $401,625 for research into ‘Evaluation of immune correlates for virus-specific CD8+ T cells following prime-boost vaccination’.
- Dr Justine Mintern awarded $473,250 for research into ‘Cytolytic mechanisms required for virus elimination’.
- Dr Anthony Purcell, Dr Stephen Turner and Dr Craig Clements awarded $518,250 for research into ‘Molecular basis of T cell Receptor bias in viral immunity’.
- Dr Barbara Coulson awarded $330,000 for research into ‘Immune cell interactions and cell signalling pathways important for rotavirus infection’ and $397,125 for research into ‘Modulation of type 1 diabetes development by rotavirus infection’.
- Dr Andrew Brooks and Associate Professor Thomas Kotsimbos awarded $518,250 for research into ‘The role of HLA-E in innate and adaptive immunity’.
- Dr Francis Carbone and Dr David Tscharke awarded $483,750 for research into ‘TSLP and dysregulation of anti-viral immunity in atopic dermatitis’.
- Dr Patrick Reading awarded $382,125 for research into ‘Identification of innate receptors for influenza viruses’.
- Professor Lorena Brown, Dr Deborah Middleton and Associate Professor David Jackson awarded $493,125 for research into ‘The progression of influenza virus within the respiratory tract’.
- Professor Lorena Brown and Associate Professor David Jackson awarded $453,750 for research into ‘Heterosubtypic T cell-inducing vaccines for influenza in humans’.
ARC Grants
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF)
- Dr A Purcell, Professor J Rossjohn, Associate Professor M Aguilar, Professor J McCluskey, Associate Professor T J Lithgow, Professor R O’Hair, Dr R Pearson,and Professor P McIntyre awarded $300,000 for research into ‘Mass spectrometry facility for the quanitation and analysis of post-translationally modified peptides’.
Thomson Scientific Australian Citation Survey (October 2007)
The University of Melbourne has led the recently published Thomson Scientific Australian citation survey with 21 ‘Top Three’ appearances. With more than 51 000 citations, Melbourne appeared in 11 scientific fields ranked by total citations and 10 fields by impact.
The University also ranked in the ‘Top Three’ in both citations and impact in five fields – neurosciences, physics, microbiology, pharmacology, and psychology/psychiatry.
On the CNN Money website Christopher King, editor of Thomson’s ScienceWatch, said the University of Melbourne displays both productivity and influence.
Thomson Scientific analysed data from its Australian University Indicators 1981-2006, a database containing publication and citation statistics for more than 50 universities and research institutes which evaluates universities and research institutions based on total citations and impact – the average number of citations per paper.
It then ranked institutions by impact and total citations across 21 fields, as well as overall output and impact.
ScienceWatch editor Christopher King is not surprised a ‘powerhouse’ like Melbourne ranked highly in citation surveys as large institutions tend to be the most productive and have the highest research output.
University of Melbourne affiliate, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) of Medical Research, topped all other universities and institutes in overall impact with an average of nearly 20 citations per paper.
ScienceWatch notes that papers from research institutes such as WEHI and the Howard Florey Institute were not included with those from the University of Melbourne even in instances where the institutions appear together.
[Source: The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 17 29 October - 12 November 2007 ]
Dr Stephen Turner is one of the recipients of this year’s 10 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Awards (October 2007)
Dr Stephen Turner is one of four University of Melbourne scientists who are recipients of this year’s 10 Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Awards.
The awards, from the Australian Institute of Policy Science, recognise the achievements of outstanding young researchers in the sciences.
Melbourne’s 2007 Young Tall Poppies are Dr Murat Yücel (Psychiatry / ORYGEN Research Centre), Dr Stephen Turner (Microbiology and Immunology), and Dr Ben Croker and Dr Benjamin Kile (Medical Biology / Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
Dean of Science Professor Peter Rathjen, ‘Tall Poppies’ campaign ambassador in Victoria, says the awards recognise exceptional young scientists who have a passion for their work and for communicating it to society.
Dr Yücel was recognised for his work in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychiatry; Dr Turner for research into how our immune system controls viral infections; Dr Croker for research into infection and heart failure; and Dr Kile for work in molecular genetics and haematology.
[Source: The University of Melbourne Voice Vol. 1, No. 16 15 - 29 October 2007]
Professor Anne Kelso (honorary staff member) awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List (June 2007)
Professor Anne Kelso has been given the award Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of her service to science (immunology) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The citation for the OA award also recognises her contribution as an academic and as a mentor.
Professor Kelso’s particular area of interest has been in the development and control of specialised functions in effector and memory T lymphocytes. and vaccine research. She is a graduate of Melbourne University and after her postdoctoral work at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research at Lausanne, she spent 10 years at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne. This was followed by eight years at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). During her time there, she was appointed Director of the CTC-VT based at QIMR. In 2006, Anne was appointed Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza based in Melbourne Health at Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory. She has served as president of the Australasian Society for Immunology and secretary-general of the International Union of Immunological Societies and is a former or current member of a number of government, institutional and private sector scientific advisory committees and boards.
Professor Bill Heath awarded Federation Fellowship (May, 2007)
Three internationally outstanding researchers have been awarded prestigious Federation Fellowships to conduct ground-breaking research at the University of Melbourne.
They are part of a new round of 20 Federation Fellows announced last week by Commonwealth Education Minister Julie Bishop. The Fellowships, each worth around $1.5 million over five years, are funded under the Australian Research Council’s National Competitive Grants Program.
Melbourne’s new Federation Fellows are physicist Professor Tony Gherghetta (University of Minnesota), an expatriate Australian returning to Australia; immunologist Professor Bill Heath (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute); and nanotechologist and biotechnologist Professor Frank Caruso (University of Melbourne) who has been re-appointed as a Federation Fellow. They will join 15 Federation Fellows at the University.
Professor Heath is deputy head of the Immunology Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. His research into the interaction between malarial parasites and dendritic cells could lay the groundwork for development of new and more effective treatments for human malarial infections.
He has received two prestigious international research grants from the US-based Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the latest a $400 000 grant for malaria research in 2005.
Further details (The University of Melbourne Voice)
Further
details (ARC website)
Professor Francis Carbone awarded 2007 Fullbright Senior Scholarship (May, 2007)
Professor Francis Carbone, a world leading immunologist from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Melbourne, is one of two Australians to win a 2007 Fulbright Senior Scholarship. Professor Carbone will travel to the Scripps Institute, California, to conduct collaborative research into the role of cross-presentation in the immune responses to virus infection. He will be working in the laboratory of the world leading immunogeneticist, Dr Bruce Beutler.
Further
details.
Emeritus Professor Nancy Millis awarded the 2007 Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution Award (April, 2007)
Recipients of the ATSE Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution Award are selected solely at the discretion and consideration of the Board of Governors of the ATSE Clunies Ross Foundation, and the award given to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the application of science and technology in Australia. Recipients are presented with a certificate and a 10oz fine silver medal created by the Australian Mint.
Professor Millis has made significant and broad contributions to science
through her research, leadership in government policy and initiatives,
and educating the next generation of scientists. A pioneer of the study
of fermentation technology early in her career, Professor Millis spent
three years at the University of Bristol working on fermentation of
cider and completing a PhD before joining the Department of Microbiology
at the University of Melbourne and creating the first applied microbiology
course taught in an Australian university.
She later became prominent in the emerging science of genetic engineering,
chairing the Commonwealth government’s surveillance committees
for 20 years from 1981. Professor Millis has also had a long association
with the water industry, and has been independent chairman of the Cooperative
Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment since its inception
in 1995. Dedicated to finding solutions to be shared across jurisdictions
with common problems such as blue-green algae, water shortage and recycling
methods, Millis is admired by colleagues for her ability to progress
a complex agenda and achieve consensus among stakeholders with varied
interests. She also currently chairs the Water Resources Strategy Committee
for the Melbourne area, which was established to plan for the future
of Melbourne’s water use for the next 50 years.
Further
details.
Professor Peter Doherty presented the 38th Halford Oration: PLAGUES, PESTILENCE AND HOW WE DEAL WITH THEM (Tuesday 1st August, 2006 )
The Black Death that ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages killed from one third to a half the population of many cities. The social consequences were enormous and, because we had no understanding of the nature of contagion, fear and prejudice were rife. Human beings paid a terrible price for the preceding centuries of ignorance and intellectual suppression. Over the next 500 years we turned away from the idea that the natural world can be explained by assertion and "revealed" truth, and learned again to apply the linked approaches of questioning and experiment that allowed human understanding to advance in Ancient Greece. Along the way we explained the nature of infectious diseases and triggered the Industrial Revolution that has led to the world we live in today.
Now, while we are living in a time of extraordinary opportunity, we are beginning to understand that we must correct some of our past mistakes. The application of hygiene, the development of vaccines, the discovery of antibiotics, and improvements in agriculture have led to an explosion in human numbers. There are six times more people on the planet than there were in 1800 at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Forests are being cleared with extraordinary rapidity, soil quality is being degraded, the oceans are being fished out and we are losing biological species at an incredible rate. So far as the natural world is concerned, it would be better if human beings had remained mired in superstition, ignorance, and the early and unpredicted death that goes with those approaches to life. Now we are realising that, with the increasing evidence for global warming, we must take rapid corrective measures. We also perceive that there are threats out there, like the possibility of a severe influenza pandemic that we may find difficult to handle. However, these challenges also offer enormous opportunities.
If, as Australians, we decide to seek solutions to these global problems, we will at the same time lay the groundwork for great prosperity that is based on something other than digging this country up and selling it off. That will require education, communication, and the commitment of financial resources to the development of new and innovative technologies. It will require that we strengthen our universities and our higher education and research sector. It means that we must think out of the box and identify, then focus on, areas where we have great selective advantage and stand to make major breakthroughs. The future is our hands. There are great challenges. It is time to do away with the boredom of being relaxed and comfortable.
Assoc/Professor David Jackson awarded 2004 David Syme Prize (May, 2005)
Associate Professor David Jackson was one of two Melbourne University researchers to be awarded the prestigious David Syme Prize.
The David Syme Prize is awarded for the best original research work in biology, chemistry, geology or physics, produced in Australia during the preceding two years.
Dr. David Jackson was rewarded for creating a totally synthetic vaccine that is effective against viruses, harmful bacteria and tumours and could lead to a powerful new arsenal of vaccines for humans and animals. He is also the Chief Scientist at VacTX Pty Ltd, a company established by EQiTX Limited and the CRC-VT to commercialise synthetic peptide technology.
QIAGEN awards PhD students Rhys Allan and Angus Stock (June, 2005)
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World-class research publications by Rhys Allan and Angus Stock, PhD students from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, have been recognised by two awards, sponsored by life science company QIAGEN Pty Ltd. The awards were used to support travel expenses to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) conference in San Diego, where Rhys and Angus presented abstracts of their work on the ways that T cells respond to viruses and how T cell immunity is generated following viral infection. Both students (who are supervised by Professor Frank Carbone) are first authors on papers published in prestigious journals - Rhys in Science and Angus in the Journal of Immunology. The awards were presented by Mr Duncan Jones, Managing Director of QIAGEN, and Professor Roy Robins-Browne, Head of Department, at a ceremony attended by academic staff and students. |
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| Pictured from left to right : Mr. Duncan Jones, Professor Roy Robins-Browne, Rhys Allan, Angus Stock, Professor Frank Carbone. | ||
After attending the conference, Rhys and Angus reported enthusiastic response to their work and commented on the tremendous opportunity to discuss their research with leading international scientists from around the world. Both students are considering job offers from Institutes and Universities in London, Paris and Oxford. The Department of Microbiology and Immunology gratefully acknowledges the contribution of QIAGEN in sponsoring these awards which we trust will be an annual event. QIAGEN provides innovative enabling technologies and products for the separation, purification and handling of nucleic acids and proteins and has developed a comprehensive portfolio of more than 320 proprietary, consumable products for nucleic acid and protein separation, purification and handling, nucleic acid amplification, as well as automated instrumentation, synthetic nucleic acid products and related services. |
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Major discovery in the fight against AIDS
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A team of researchers, led by Assoc/Prof Stephen Kent have made a major discovery in the fight against AIDS - they have developed a novel, simple and safe technique for boosting the body's immune response to deadly viruses like HIV, which is even effective against drug resistant forms of the disease. Dr Stephen Kent says the findings hold great promise for the treatment of HIV, other chronic viral infections, and drug resistant infections, which are becoming a major problem. The researchers call the therapy Overlapping Peptide Pulsed Autologous Cells (OPAL). They have been awarded NHMRC funding of almost $500,000 to refine the technique so that it can be studied in humans. Read details of the discovery: |
Assoc/Prof David Jackson was interviewed about an "Easy-to-make Vaccine"on Radio Australia's Innovations Program (February, 2005).
Dr David Jackson (Assoc/Prof, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne & Program Leader - Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology) described how Australian researchers have created a totally synthetic vaccine that is effective against viruses, harmful bacteria and tumours and could lead to a powerful new arsenal of vaccines for humans and animals.
Read the transcript of the interview:
http://www.abc.net.au/ra/innovations/stories/s1302311.htm
2004 IgV Conference "Best Speaker" Awarded to Postgraduate Student, Misty Jenkins
Misty's presentation entitled "Granzyme and perforin expression by influenza-specific CD8+ T cells" won her a travel scholarship to attend the national conference of the Australian Society for Immunology in Adelaide from 12th to 16th December to present her work.
World First Discovery by Researchers in the Dyall-Smith Laboratory
PhD student Mr David Burns, Dr Mike Dyall-Smith and others have successfully grown an unusual square-shaped bacterium found in salt lakes that has mystified scientists for a quarter of a century. Read details of the discovery at: http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_1830.html
Departmental seminars are held every Monday during semester at 12 noon in the Woodruff Theatre.