Project: Helping make the best antibodies to combat COVID-19 and Influenza
Kent group
T follicular helper (Tfh) cells in lymph nodes are critical to the generation of effective neutralising antibody responses to controls SARS-CoV2 and Influenza. Our recent work in SARS-CoV2 showed specific subsets of circulating Tfh helped people generate neutralising antibodies against COVID19 (Juno et al, Nature Medicine 2020). We can now probe the transcriptional profile of circulating Tfh in humans and lymph node Tfh in animal models to refine the types of Tfh responsible for protecting against these 2 devastating diseases. This work will involve cellular and molecular biology approaches to refine our understanding of immunity to these viruses and develop better vaccines. Some of the technologies are illustrated in our recent work in Cell Reports (Wragg et al Cell Reports 2020).
Contact project supervisor for further
information and application enquiries
Kent group
7 vacancies
Research Projects 2019 | 25 The Kent group has an interest in understanding how the immune response can be harnessed in the control of infectious pathogens including HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and influenza. This includes understanding non-conventional T cells and how they are impacted by HIV infection despite the fact that they are not target cells for HIV replication. We use animal models to investigate ways to manipulate these cells and to understand how they are regulated during viral infection. We also examine how antibodies can instruct the innate immune system to attack invading pathogens through their Fc regions. Our research aims to understand the mechanisms behind these antibodies in order to guide the development of more effective antibody therapeutics and vaccines.
Kent group Current Projects
-
Interrogating B cell immunity to COVID19 and influenza vaccines
PhD/MPhil
-
Helping make the best antibodies to combat COVID-19 and Influenza
Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Can resident memory B cells in the lung protect against COVID19 and other respiratory viruses?
PhD/MPhil
-
Elimination of Influenza B: Understanding broadly cross-reactive antibody and B cell responses to influenza B viruses
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
-
Dissecting humoral immune responses to human coronaviruses
PhD/MPhil
-
Understanding T cell help for antiviral vaccines
PhD/MPhil
-
Host-pathogen interactions of influenza B viruses
PhD/MPhil
Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.