Dr Sidonia Eckle
(03) 8344 0775 | seckle@unimelb.edu.au
- Position:
- Group Leader, MAIT Cell Program; NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
- Theme(s):
- Immunology, Antimicrobial Resistance, Bacterial and Parasitic Infections
- Discipline(s):
- Discovery Research, Clinical and health systems research
- Unit(s):
- The University of Melbourne, Department of Microbiology and Immunology (DMI)
- Lab Group(s):
- McCluskey Group
Dr Sidonia Eckle graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from the Technical University of Munich in 2006, with a MSc in Molecular Cell Biology from Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute in 2007, and with a PhD in Immunology under Professor James McCluskey from The University of Melbourne in 2013. Since 2019 she has been a Group Leader as part of the MAIT cell program, headed by James. Her research, at the cross-roads of cellular immunology and biochemistry, focuses on understanding the role of MAIT cells in infectious diseases and allergies and on developing MAIT-cell based therapies and vaccines.
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Key Achievements
Publications
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As part of a multidisciplinary effort, Sidonia played a pivotal role in identifying the activating ligands of MAIT cells (Nature 2014). Capitalising on this knowledge, Sidonia was also key in generating MR1-tetramers, analytical tools which specifically identify MAIT cells. These discoveries have opened up the MAIT cell field. Sidonia has contributed over 35 articles to the field of MAIT cells and T cell immunology in general, cited more than 2,800 times (Scopus 2021) and is a co-inventor of two patents. Sidonia was previously an ARC DECRA Fellow, is currently an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and holds a project grant from the NHMRC.
Research GroupsLoading ORCID data…-
McCluskey Group
MAIT cells respond to precursors of riboflavin, allowing the immune system to detect microbial invaders. The McCluskey group aims to understand their role in infection/inflammatory conditions and is tackling this question using mouse models, human tissue analysis and structural biology.
If you are interested to collaborate with us, please, feel free to get in touch. Please note that the human and mouse MR1 tetramers developed in our laboratory can now be ordered through the NIH tetramer core facility.
Lab Team
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Associate Professor Alexandra Corbett
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Senior Research Officer
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Group Leader, MAIT Cell Program; NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
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Bronwyn MeehanLab Manager
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Dr Michael SouterResearch Officer
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Troi PediongcoResearch Assistant
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Freya HarewoodPhD Student
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Dr Huimeng WangResearch Officer
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Xin Yi LimResearch Assistant
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Lucy MeehanResearch Assistant
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Adam NelsonResearch Assistant
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Songyi LiMasters Student
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Yilu HuangMasters Student
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