Clinical Immunohaematology

Group Leader  

Associate Professor Maher Gandhi

Summary

The major research interests in this laboratory involve viral and immune biomarkers, immuno-evasion, viral micro-RNA expression and optimisation of cellular immunotherapies for virus associated lymphomas.

The research aims to understand the basis of lymphoma to devise new treatments which are less toxic and more effective; to establish new biomarkers which will help determine the most effective treatment strategies and to monitor response and relapse and understand the development of lymphomas.

Conditions researched

• Lymphoma
• Epstein-Barr virus 
• Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

Current research

• Phase I clinical trial of adoptive immunotherapy in EBV-positive lymphomas
• Phase II clinical trial for ITP
• Phase II multi-centre trial for non-EBV related lymphoma which involves bone marrow transplantation
• Development of a laboratory model of B-cell differentiation and lymphomagenesis

Staff

Group Leader: Dr Maher Gandhi

Research Officers: Dr Jamie Nourse, Dr Frank Vari 

Laboratory Manager: Pauline Crooks

Research Assistant: Erica Han

PhD student: Kimberley Jones, Nathan Ross, Sally Mujaj

Clinical Fellow: Dr Colm Keane

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge support from the following funding bodies:

• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Cancer Council Queensland
• Queensland Smart State Fund
• Leukaemia Foundation
• The Atlantic Philanthropies
• Griffith Medical Research College
• Research Infrastructure Support Services

• Roche Organ Transplantation Research Foundation

Collaborators

Associate Professor David Ritchie, Peter MacCallum

Professor Lyn Griffiths, Griffith University

Associate Professor Mark Hertzberg  Westmead Hospital

Dr Ralf Trappe, Charitie, Germany

Dr Huyen Tran, Australian Centre for Blood Diseases