I am a cellular immunologist with expertise in antigen processing-presentation, CTL determinant selection and immunodominance, T cell differentiation and, cancer immunotherapeutic trials and cancer vaccine development.
My research straddles biochemistry, cell biology and immunology. I am interested in the mechanisms of antigen presentation by dendritic cells, and the functions of the cystatin family of protease inhibitors.
Tumour Antigen Cross-presentation: Efficiency, Biology And Role Of Inhibitory B7 Homologue Molecules
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$469,500.00
Summary
It is now known that the body s immune system often attempts to attack cancers but this response is generally fairly weak. It was previously thought that one of the main reasons for this failure was that the immune system was ignorant of the presence of the cancer until too late. Our recent work over the past few years has shown that this is not the case. A process called cross-presentation seems to efficiently and continuously expose the cancer to the body s anti-cancer killer T-cells. This gra ....It is now known that the body s immune system often attempts to attack cancers but this response is generally fairly weak. It was previously thought that one of the main reasons for this failure was that the immune system was ignorant of the presence of the cancer until too late. Our recent work over the past few years has shown that this is not the case. A process called cross-presentation seems to efficiently and continuously expose the cancer to the body s anti-cancer killer T-cells. This grant will work out exactly how efficient that process is, which cells are responsible and some aspects of how it happens. We will also study whether some recently-discovered braking molecules, which slow down immune responses and which could be 'applying the brakes' to anti-cancer responses. This could lead to new approaches to therapy eg by removing these brakes during vaccination therapy.Read moreRead less
CHARACTERISATION AND ANTIBODY-MEDIATED TARGETING OF A NOVEL SPECIFIC MARKER FOR T CELL ALL/LYMPHOBLASTIC LYMPHOMA
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$586,146.00
Summary
Improvements in treatment have seen some types of leukaemia (a cancer of white blood cells) being curable in up to 90% of patients with the disease; however, other types of leukaemia do not respond to these drugs and new approaches are needed. We have discovered that some leukaemia cells express a unique protein not made by any other cell type. This project will analyse how this aberrant protein is made and how this process contributes to the development of leukaemia. Also, since this protein is ....Improvements in treatment have seen some types of leukaemia (a cancer of white blood cells) being curable in up to 90% of patients with the disease; however, other types of leukaemia do not respond to these drugs and new approaches are needed. We have discovered that some leukaemia cells express a unique protein not made by any other cell type. This project will analyse how this aberrant protein is made and how this process contributes to the development of leukaemia. Also, since this protein is unique to the leukaemia cells, it offers the opportunity to develop magic bullets able to target specifically to the leukaemia cells and to kill them. This project aims to make one such drug and to conduct preliminary testing.Read moreRead less
Investigation Into The Immunogenicity Of Dendritic Cell-derived Exosomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$257,036.00
Summary
Dendritic cells are essential in immune responses. They have unique capacity to stimulate lymphocytes specific to viruses, bacteria and cancers. They are extremely rare and difficult to isolate. We have developed a method of culture which gives a continuous supply of dendritic cells. Cells produced in our culture also produce a high yield of acellular membranous particles called 'exosomes' which have been previously been very difficult to isolate and characterise. Some preliminary reports sugges ....Dendritic cells are essential in immune responses. They have unique capacity to stimulate lymphocytes specific to viruses, bacteria and cancers. They are extremely rare and difficult to isolate. We have developed a method of culture which gives a continuous supply of dendritic cells. Cells produced in our culture also produce a high yield of acellular membranous particles called 'exosomes' which have been previously been very difficult to isolate and characterise. Some preliminary reports suggest that exosomes can induce or modify immune responses and that they have enormous immunotherapeutic potential. Further study of their clinical application is limited by the difficulty of isolating enough dendritic cells from which to isolate exosomes. This study will involve production and characterisation of exosomes from our unique murine dendritic cell culture system. Exosomes isolated will be assessed in terms of potential for immunotherapeutic treatment of disease such as cancer, viral infection and autoimmunity.Read moreRead less
Enhanced Expression Of The Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Antigen, EBNA1, As A Target For T-cell-Based Immunotherapy For Prevention Of Viral-Associated Diseases.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$356,513.00
Summary
Epstein-Barr virus, (EBV) is a human herpesvirus associated with a range of human cancers. EBNA1, an important EBV antigen, was thought to be “immunologically silent” however, recent studies from our laboratory show that EBNA1 is recognized by our body's defence system and these observations raise the possibility that EBNA1 may be an exploitable, immuno-therapy target for treating EBV-associated cancers.
Enhanced Translation Of Epstein-Barr Virus Nuclear Protein, EBNA1, As A Target For T Cell-based Immunotherapy.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$276,598.00
Summary
Epstein-Barr virus, (EBV) is a human herpesvirus associated with a range of human cancers. EBNA1, an important EBV antigen, was thought to be immunologically silent however, recent studies from our laboratory show that EBNA1 is recognized by our body's defence system and these observations raise the possibility that EBNA1 may be an exploitable, immuno-therapy target for treating EBV-associated cancers.