The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

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

Dr Adam Wheatley

Dr Adam Wheatley

NA | a.wheatley@unimelb.edu.au

Position:
Laboratory Head
Theme(s):
Immunology, Viral Infectious Diseases
Discipline(s):
Discovery Research, Clinical and health systems research
Unit(s):
The University of Melbourne, Department of Microbiology and Immunology (DMI)
Lab Group(s):
Kent Group, Wheatley Group

After a PhD at University of Melbourne, Dr Wheatley undertook postdoctoral training at the Vaccine Research Center, NIH, USA. There he focused upon defining correlates of immune protection following clinical immunisation trials and characterising humoral immunity elicited to experimental HIV and influenza vaccines. He returned to the University of Melbourne in 2015, where he established a team focused upon understanding mechanisms to generate broad and lasting antibody-based protection against viral diseases such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2. Specific interests include the control of B cell trafficking, germinal centre and memory formation, the basis for cross-reactive recognition of antigenically diverse pathogens by antibody, and the rational design and pre-clinical testing of novel vaccine concepts.

  • Key Achievements
    • Adam has made significant contributions to our understanding of basic B cell biology, with applications in the rational design of improved vaccines to combat viral infectious diseases. He is a major proponent of using flow cytometric approaches to study antigenic specific B cell immunity in the context of respiratory virus infection (Cell 2016, Nat Med 2020), vaccination (JCI 2019, Nat Comm 2021), and for the discovery of antiviral monoclonal antibodies (Nat Comm 2019, Cell Reports 2021). He is an NHMRC EL and Dame Kate Campbell fellow, and his research program has been supported by the NHMRC, MRFF, ARC and philanthropic grants.

    Publications
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    Research Groups
    • Kent Group

      Stephen’s group studies immunity to HIV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2. They are analysing a variety of vaccine strategies, including nanoparticle-based vaccines. They are studying a series of immune responses to gain better insights into protective immunity to important viral pathogens. They are developing monoclonal antibody therapies for HIV, influenza and SARS-CoV-2 to improve the treatment of these infections. The Kent group works very closely with Dr Amy Chung’s laboratory at the Doherty Institute.


      Lab Team

      Kent Group

      • Dr Adam Wheatley
        Laboratory Head
      • Laboratory Head
      • Hyon-Xhi Tan
        Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Research Fellow
      • Research Officer
      • Rosela Webster
        Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Mai Ngoc Vu
        Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Lara Schwab
        Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Mitchell Zheng
        Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Mai-Chi Trieu
        Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow
      • Andrew Kelly
        Research Assistant
      • Lauren Burmas
        Research Assistant
      • Julie Nguyen
        Research Assistant
      • Robyn Esterbauer
        Research Assistant
      • Thakshila Amarasena
        Research Support Officer
      • Jane Batten
        Project Manager
      • Janavi Rambhatla
        Senior Project Officer
      • Devaki Pilapitiya
        PhD Student
      • Ruth Purcell
        PhD Student (co-supervisor with Amy Chung)
      • Isaac Barber-Axthelm
        PhD Student
      • Kirsty Field
        PhD Student
      • Samantha Davis
        PhD Student (co-supervisor with Amy Chung)
      • Thu Do
        PhD Student
      • Yee-Chen Liu
        PhD Student
      • Veronica Zoest
        PhD Student
      • Professor David O'Connor
        Honorary
      • Professor Shelby O'Connor
        Honorary
      • Dr David (Yi) Ju
        Honorary
      • Dr Hillary Vanderven
        Honorary
      • A/Prof Matt Parsons
        Honorary
      • Dr Nghia Truong
        Honorary
      • Dr Sinth Jegaskanda
        Honorary
      • A/Prof Steve Rockman
        Honorary
      • Dr Emily Pilkington
        Guest Scientist
      • Dr Shiyao Li
        Guest Scientist
      • Diyana Hassanel
        Guest Scientist
      • Zihnil Mazrad
        Guest Scientist
    • Wheatley Group

      The Wheatley group seeks to increase our understanding of immunity to SARS-CoV-2, Influenza and other pandemic viruses, in order to facilitate rational improvement of vaccination strategies and treatment paradigms. With a primary focus on humoral aspects of immunity, we aim:

      • To explore immunological mechanisms that underpin successful vaccination, including the factors that maximise the protective efficacy, breadth and durability of anti-viral immunity.
      • To design, develop and clinically assess the next-generation of vaccine platforms and regimens, including self-assembling nanoparticle and mRNA-based technologies.
      • To discover, optimise and clinically develop human/humanised monoclonal antibodies as potent antiviral drugs for treatment or prevention of viral infectious diseases.