Molecular Vaccinology

Group Leader  

Professor Denise Doolan

Summary

Research in this laboratory investigates the molecular basis of immunity to disease, with a focus on malaria and model systems that can inform the basic immunology, mechanisms and antigenic targets of immunity, and evaluation of candidate vaccines.

Unlike most of QIMR’s malaria laboratories, which only work with animal models, the Molecular Vaccinology Laboratory does some work with humans using samples from areas such as Africa and Papua New Guinea.

Conditions researched

• Malaria

Current research

• Identifying and characterising target antigens and epitopes for vaccine development
• Understanding mechanisms of protective immunity and regulation of immunity
• Identifying novel adjuvants which enhance vaccine-induced immunity, especially cell mediated immune responses
• Evaluating novel vaccine delivery systems 

Staff

Group Leader: Professor Denise Doolan

Postdoctoral staff: Dr Angela Trieu, Dr Simon Apte, Dr Bruno Douradinha, Carla Proietti

Research Assistants: Penny Groves, Joanne Roddick

PhD students: Andrew Redmond, Sophie Schussek, David Pattinson

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge support from the following organisations and funding bodies:

• Pfizer Australia
• The National Institutes of Health, (NIH) USA 
• The National Health and Medical Research Council
• Queensland Government 

Collaborators

Dr Philip Felgner, University of California Irvine, USA

Dr Pedro Alonso, Barcelona Center for International Health Research, Spain and Centro de Investigaçao em Saude da Manhiça, Mozambique

Dr Alessandro Sette, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology

Dr Kwadwo Koram, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Ghana

Dr Xiaowu Liang, ImmPort Therapeutics, Irvine, USA

Dr Thomas Richie, Malaria Program, Naval Medical Research Center, USA

Dr Alyssa Barry, MacFarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute), Melbourne