Infection and immunity

Organisms defend themselves against infections through innate and adaptive immune responses. In the Research School of Biology we investigate important pathogens (Shigella, poxviruses and herpesviruses) and how they are recognised by the immune system. We investigate how cells of the immune system develop and how the immune system can be used to fight infectious agents and cancer cells. These approaches are used to generate new vaccines and to develop cancer therapies.

Project Groups
A yeast surface display nanobody factory Brock Group - Membrane Structural & Synthetic Biology
ANU International applicants for PhDs in Biomedical Science and Biochemistry
  • Adamska Group - Genomic and evolutionary basis of animal development
  • Altin Group - Tumour immunology and liposome targeting group
  • Behm Group - Nematode molecular biology
  • Brock Group - Membrane Structural & Synthetic Biology
  • Broer Group - Membrane transport and nutrition
  • Callaghan Group - Human disease and membrane transport
  • Chung Group - Biophysics of ion channels
  • Corry Group - Transport proteins and computational biophysics
  • Fahrer Group - Immunology
  • Howitt Group - Transporter structure and function
  • Kirk Group - Membrane transport in parasites
  • Lehane Group - Antimalarial drug action and resistance
  • Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
  • Maier Group - Molecular mechanisms of malaria pathogenesis
  • Maleszka Group - From molecules to behaviour
  • Saliba Group - Physiology and biochemistry of the malaria parasite
  • van Dooren Group - Cell biology and metabolism of apicomplexan parasites
  • Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
  • BeePocalypse Now: How the arrival of parasitic bee mites will change Australia's ecosystems and agriculture Mikheyev Group - Evolutionary genomics
    Caenorhabditis elegans as a potential animal model to study host-pathogen interactions Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
    Chromosome condensation and T cell development Fahrer Group - Immunology
    Development of a simple, inexpensive therapeutic cancer vaccine Fahrer Group - Immunology
    Functional characterisation of novel autotransporter proteins Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
    Laboratory overview Rathjen Group - Plant immunity
    Protein function in plant immunity Rathjen Group - Plant immunity
    Redesign and engineering of the autotransporter β-barrel domain Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
    Serotype-converting bacteriophages and O-antigen modification in Shigella flexneri Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
    Shigella virulence and vaccine development Verma Group - Bacterial and bacteriophage genetics, and vaccine development
    Student research projects in tumour immunology and liposome targeting Altin Group - Tumour immunology and liposome targeting group
    To what degree does autotransporter folding inside the bacterial cell resemble autotransporter folding in bulk solution? Leyton Group - Assembly, function, and applications of nanoscale bacterial surface structures
    Uncovering the hare microbiome
  • Rathjen Group - Plant immunity
  • Schwessinger Group - Plants, fungi, evolution