Research Staff |
Robert De Rose |
Rob De Rose obtained his PhD from the University
of Melbourne in 2003. He is a Senior Research Officer
in the Kent lab, with several years experience in
HIV vaccine development and in evaluating immune responses
to candidate HIV, SIV and SHIV vaccines in a non-human
primate model. He was recently awarded an Early Career
Research Award from the University of Melbourne. He
is currently leading research projects on nanoparticle
vaccines and Influenza-HIV vaccines. |
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Ivan Stratov |
Dr Ivan Stratov is an infectious diseases physician
who recently completed his PhD in cellular immunity
to HIV. He performs part-time infectious diseases
clinical work, particularly looking after people with
HIV infection. His current research with the Kent
lab involves studying the utility of antibody dependent
cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses against
HIV. |
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Amy Sexton |
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Amy Sexton obtained her PhD from St George's, University
of London in May 2007. Her project was focused on
HIV microbicides and the use of genetically engineered
plants as a production platform. Amy joined the Kent
Lab in November 2007 and is currently working on using
nanoparticles for the delivery of HIV vaccines. |
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| Marjon Navis |
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| Marjon Navis obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in March 2009. Her thesis focused on HIV-1 evolution in relation to several host factors, in particular to host cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. She joined the Kent Lab in April 2009 and is working on antibody dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses against HIV. |
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Jeanette Reece |
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Jeanette completed her BSc(Hons) degree from the
University of Melbourne in 1990. Since then she has
worked in the field of HIV vaccine research, both
at Burnet Centre and the University of Melbourne.
In 2003, Jeanette completed a Masters of Public Health
(MPH) and worked at the Department of Public Health
at the University of Melbourne under the supervision
of Dr. Mark Jenkins during that time. She commenced
work in Professor Stephen Kent’s HIV Vaccine
Laboratory at the University of Melbourne in 2004 |
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Caroline Fernandez |
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Caroline obtained her Bsc (Hons) from
the University of Melbourne in 1991. She is a Senior
Research Assistant in the Kent Lab. She performs much of our viral load analysis and is our laboratory safety officer. She has been recently studying NK T cells in our macaques. |
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Sheilajen (Vinca) Alcantara |
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Vinca completed her Bachelor of Science (Clinical
Laboratory Science) at Silliman University in the
Philippines in 1994. She joined the Kent Lab
in 2005 and works as a Research Technician. She performs
CD4 and tetramer staining on T cells and general
lab management and maintenance. |
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Thakshila Amarasena |
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Thakshila obtained her Bsc (Hons) and Masters degree
in University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. She joined Prof. Stephen Kent’s
group in 2007 and assists in the lab’s HIV vaccine
research studies. |
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Students |
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Rosemarie Mason |
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Rosemarie trained at the University of Toronto (Honours
BSc in Human Biology) and Memorial University of Newfoundland
(MSc in Immunology) in Canada before joining the Kent
Lab. She is now working as a PhD student investigating
i) efficacy of whole inactivated SIV pulsed cells
as immunotherapy in SIV-infected pigtail macaques;
ii) the role of CD4 T cell memory subsets in SIV infection
and iii) CD8 T cell recognition and immune escape
of SIV structural and regulatory proteins. |
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Liyen Loh |
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Liyen Loh is a PhD student. She completed a Batchelor
of Science with honours in 2005 at the University
of Melbourne. The main aims of her project are to
develop novel PCR assays to measure cytotoxic T cell
escape kinetics and also to measure integrated virus
in Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-infected macaques.
These assays will be utilised to gain further understanding
about HIV-1 protection in humans.
Liyen was recently awarded a prestigious Commendation for the 2009 Premier's Award for Health and Medical Research. She was also awarded the QIAGEN PhD Achievement Award. Her work has featured in The University of Melbourne Voice (May 2009).
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Amy Chung |
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Amy completed her BBiomedSci/BSc (Hons) from the University of
Melbourne in 2006 and she is now a PhD student investigating the
role of Natural Killer cell mediated Antibody dependent cellular
cytotoxicity has against HIV infection. |
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Gamze Isitman |
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Gamze graduated from BAppSci (Laboratory Medicine) at RMIT in 2004. She then completed her BSc (Hons) in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department (Bio21 Institute) at the University of Melbourne in 2006 . She is now a PhD student in the Kent lab, evaluating HIV-specific antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity antibodies in the protection of macaques from SHIV infection. |
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Arti Reddy |
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Arti obtained her BSc (Biology) from the University of Hawaii and an MSc (Plant Biology - Molecular Genetics) from Massey University, New Zealand. She has previously worked in the areas of Plant Breeding and most recently was involved in Molecular Biology/Phylogenetics projects. She is currently a PhD student in the Kent Lab studying the immunogenicity of nanocapsule-SIV vaccines containing CD4 and CD8 epitopes in macaques. |
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