Research Activities

2019 Winter Update:
 PhD project available:
Immune mechanisms and vaccination against the chronic gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori.
Gastric disease caused by Helicobacter pyloriis a significant cause of chronic disease, ulcers and gastric cancer. Our natural immune response to this infection is not effective and indeed causes many of the symptoms of the diseases associated with infection. Antibiotic treatment is the mainstay of treatment, but resistance is an increasing problem worldwide(1). An effective vaccine would be desirable, but despite encouraging results from animal testing, the candidate vaccines tested in humans have shown little success. If we are to develop a safe, effective vaccine, a better understanding of the molecular interactions between the bacterium and the immune system is required (2,3). The aim of this project is to investigate the mucosal immune response against H. pylorithat is induced by vaccination and to determine the immune mechanisms that are required for a protective response. We already have evidence that novel immune factors are involved (4), and that vaccination affects the innate and adaptive immune response (5), gut physiology, and the microbiota (6). This project will delve into the mechanisms that control these effects. This project will involve the use of in vitro infection models using primary animal and human organoid cell cultures, and in vivo experiments in laboratory mice.  Immunological, microbiological and molecular biology methods will be used to investigate questions on the mechanisms of protection, including flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, confocal and electron microscopy, cell culture models, quantitative PCR, genetic cloning of expression vectors, and animal infection models. Students should have a background in immunology and/or molecular biology/microbiology. 
 Please contact Anna Walduck by email for further details.


Host-Pathogen Interactions Laboratory
We are interested in the interactions between host and pathogen in acute and chronic infections.
Including: 
Severe sepsis- Sepsis has a high mortality rate, there is an urgent need for adjunct therapies to improve patient outcomes. We are investigating immunological responses in patients with sepsis and looking at the potentially positive effects of low dose aspirin. This study is supported by experiments in animal and in vitro models of sepsis and biofilm related infections.  

Understanding inflammation in the stomach to guide development of new vaccines against Helicobacter pylori. This bacterium infects up to half of the world population and causes chronic, potentially fatal disease. We are investigating the complex regulation of inflammation in the stomach to understand how to better design vaccines.  

Novel Wound dressings using silver nano-structured fabrics.
In collaboration with Prof. Vipul Bansal's group ( RMIT) we are developing wound infection models to test novel wound dressings based on TCNQ. These fabrics have strong anti-microbial properties and are

Research Keywords

Researching in the following areas: Helicobacter, Host-pathogen interactions, Sepsis, Vaccine development, Poultry vaccines