Dr Carolien van de Sandt completed her PhD in 2016 at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam (Netherlands) where she investigated the longevity, cross-reactivity and immune evasion strategies of influenza-specific CD8+ T-cells, followed by two years of postdoctoral research. In 2018, she joined the Kedzierska Laboratory as a MSCA Research Fellow to study the mechanisms that underly gain-and-loss-of CD8+ T-cell function across the human lifespan. In 2020, she temporally relocated to Sanquin Research (Netherlands) to study SARS-CoV-2 immunity in autoimmune patients, where she still holds an honorary position. In 2022 she was awarded the ARC-DECRA fellowship to continue her Aging Immunity and T-Cell Development research at the Doherty Institute (University of Melbourne).
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Key Achievements
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Carolien is recognised for her research defining virus-specific immunity which led to exceptional knowledge on universal immunity during seasonal and pandemic virus outbreaks (Influenza and SARS-CoV-2) across the human lifespan including high-risk groups. Her research program is supported by the European Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship, the ARC-DECRA Fellowship, the University of Melbourne’s McKenzie Fellowship and Establishment Grant and the Doherty Institute Collaborative Seed Grant. The overall significance of her work is evidenced by more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, including Nature Medicine, Immunity, Nature Immunology and Nature Communications. Her outstanding achievements in the field of virus immunology were recognised by 15 Awards including the international Viruses 2022 Early Career Investigator Award.
Publications
Research Groups
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Kedzierska Group
Professor Katherine Kedzierska’s team researches the immunity to viral infections, especially the newly emerged influenza viruses. Her work spans basic research – from mouse experiments to human immunity, through to clinical settings, with a particular focus on understanding universal CD8+ T cell immunity to influenza viruses. Her studies aim to identify key correlates of severe and fatal influenza disease in high-risk groups including children, the elderly and Indigenous Australians.
Lab Team
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NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow
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Dr Zhongfang Wang
Postdoctoral fellow
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Nicola Bird
Research Assistant
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Hayley Hayley
Research Assistant
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Sergio Quinones Parra
PhD student
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Simone Neussing
PhD student
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Jesseka Chadderton
PhD student