Tumour Immunology

Group Leader

Professor Rajiv Khanna

Summary

The major goal of the Tumour Immunology Laboratory is to obtain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which an immune response to tumours may be generated, augmented and applied to the inhibition of tumour growth.

The members of this laboratory share the expectation that such insight will be applicable to the treatment and/or prevention of cancer.

Conditions researched

• Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)
• Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) (nose and throat cancer)
• Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)

Current research

• Design of recombinant therapeutic vaccines to EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Developing a prophylactic vaccine for human cytomegalovirus
• Targeting ubiquitously expressed EBV cancer-associated antigen EBNA1 for immunotherapy
  

Staff

Group Leader: Professor Rajiv Khanna

Postdoctoral staff: Judy Tellam (CDA Fellow)

Research Officers: Michael Rist, Corey Smith, Diah Elhassen (Peter Doherty Fellow), Jie Zhong , Tania Crough

Research Assistants: Linda Jones (Laboratory Manager), Leone Beagley, Jesse Peet, Diem Hoang-Le, Michelle Martinez, Natasha Stevens (Clinical Trial Coordinator)

PhD students: Katherine Wynn, Siok Tey, Dasari Vijayendra

Visiting Scientist/Student: Naohiro Wakisaka, Elena Rampanelli

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following funding agencies:

• National Institutes of Health (US)
• National Health and Medical Research Council
• Queensland Cancer Fund
• Leukaemia Foundation