Wai-Hong Tham received her PhD from Princeton University and her B.A. from University of California, Berkeley. She also holds a joint appointment at WEHI as a Lab Head in the Infectious Diseases and Immune Defense Division and is co-Chair of the WEHI Biologics Initiative.

Her lab has made fundamental discoveries in novel host-pathogen interactions and examined their molecular and structural mechanisms to drive rational design of new therapies against malaria. Her lab studies parasite adhesins required for entry into human red cells, parasite surface proteins that bind to human complement proteins for immune evasion and novel parasite proteins involved in fertilisation.

The overarching aim is to rationally design and generate new inhibitors or antibodies that block these interactions and stop recurrent malaria infection in humans and block transmission from mosquitoes. Our work intersects with the fields of structural biology, nanobody technology, immuno-epidemiology and molecular parasitology.