Project: Interrogating B cell immunity to COVID19 and influenza vaccines
Kent group
SARS-CoV2 is a global pandemic and Influenza remains a persistent threat to human health, with current vaccines eliciting sub-optimal and transient protection from infection. Mechanistically, vaccine protection is afforded by antibodies targeting viral entry proteins – spike (S) for SARS-CoV2 and hemagglutinin (HA) for Influenza. However, next-generation vaccines seek to expand immune recognition to alternative sites within S and HA, or alternative viral proteins, in order to increase protective breadth. This project will utilise advanced microscopy and flow cytometry-based techniques to interrogate SARS-CoV2 and influenza-specific B cell responses (memory B cells, antibodies) to infection and immunisation in both relevant animal models of human disease, and human clinical samples. Many of the techniques have been well established in our group’s recent papers in Nature Medicine, Nature Communications and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Insights will be used to guide the design and testing of novel vaccine concepts in animal models.
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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
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Interrogating B cell immunity to COVID19 and influenza vaccines
PhD/MPhil
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Helping make the best antibodies to combat COVID-19 and Influenza
Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
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Can resident memory B cells in the lung protect against COVID19 and other respiratory viruses?
PhD/MPhil
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Elimination of Influenza B: Understanding broadly cross-reactive antibody and B cell responses to influenza B viruses
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
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Dissecting humoral immune responses to human coronaviruses
PhD/MPhil
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Understanding T cell help for antiviral vaccines
PhD/MPhil
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Host-pathogen interactions of influenza B viruses
PhD/MPhil
Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.