The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

EDUCATION

Research Projects

Project: Development of a malaria-specific mRNA vaccine

Heath Group

Malaria is a devastating disease affecting 200+ million people each year and to date, an efficacious vaccine is not available. With the approval of mRNA vaccines, we have developed and patented a novel vaccine platform designed to generate tissue-resident memory T cells in the liver. In this project you will perform critical experiments necessary for the translation of the vaccine from mice to humans including developing a lipid nanoparticle vaccine to facilitate intramuscular administration, development of a multi-epitope vaccine, and testing vaccines in humanised mouse models. 

Contact project supervisor for further
information and application enquiries

Project Supervisor

Dr Lauren Holz

Project Co-supervisor

Professor William Heath

Project availability
Master of Biomedical Science
Honours

Heath Group

lynette.beattie@unimelb.edu.au

3 vacancies

Themes
Immunology
Bacterial and Parasitic Infections
Cross Cutting Disciplines
Discovery Research

The Heath group is interested in the immune response to pathogens, particularly to malaria, which is still a major cause of mortality worldwide. We study T cell responses with the aim of improving vaccine strategies and focus on T cell responses in the skin, the liver and lymphoid organs including the spleen. Our lab recently discovered a population of resident memory T cells within the liver that are capable of protecting against malaria infection. These and other cells are currently being studied. 


Heath Group Current Projects