Dr Andrii Slonchak
Honorary Fellow
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
Researcher biography
Dr Andrii Slonchak is a head of Systems Virology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer. Andrii Slonchak obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology in 2010 from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (Kyiv, Ukraine). In 2013 he joined the University of Queensland, where he completed his postdoctoral training in the RNA Virology Laboratory under the mentorship of Prof. Alexander Khromykh. In 2023 he was awarded ARC Future Fellowship, and in 2025 appointed Team Head of the Systems Virology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer.
The Systems Virology Laboratory investigates virus-host and virus-vector interactions at molecular, cellular and organism levels using a combination of advanced multi-omics techniques, bioinformatics, molecular virology and RNA structural biology. We utilise advanced model systems such as stem cell derived organoids to study viral pathogenesis and apply single-cell and spatial transcriptomics combined with computational modelling to map cellular responses to arboviruses and uncover viral strategies for immune evasion. We aim to identify regulatory pathways driving viral replication, transmission and pathogenesis that can be targeted for development of effective defence strategies against medically significant arboviruses like Dengue, Zika, West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses.
Book Chapter
Slonchak, Andrii, Chwieduk, Agata, Rzeszowska-Wolny, Joanna and Obolenskay, Maria (2011). Regulation of the Glutathione S-Transferase P1 Expression in Melanoma Cells. Breakthroughs in Melanoma Research. (pp. 57-76) Zagreb, Croatia: InTech. doi: 10.5772/18747
Journal Articles
Monson, Ebony A., Loterio, Robson K., Roby, Justin A., Adhikari, Anurag, Bull, Rowena A., Carr, Jill M., Chatzileontiadou, Demetra S. M., Cheng, Colin X., Coulibaly, Fasséli, Davis, Samantha K., Deerain, Joshua M., Douglas, Mark W., Drummer, Heidi E., Eyre, Nicholas S., Freppel, Wesley, Gowripalan, Anjali, Grant, Emma J., Gras, Stephanie, Guthmiller, Jenna J., Herrero, Lara J., Hesping, Eva, Horsburgh, Bethany A., Hyde, Jennifer L., Koutsakos, Marios, Mackenzie, Jason M., Mahar, Jackie E., McCoullough, Laura C., McMillan, Christopher L. D., Modhiran, Naphak ... Tate, Michelle D. (2025). Twelfth scientific biennial meeting of the Australasian Virology Society: AVS12 2024. Journal of Virology, 99 (5), e0225524. doi: 10.1128/jvi.02255-24
Nakayama, Eri, Tang, Bing, Stewart, Romal, Cox, Abigail L, Yan, Kexin, Bishop, Cameron R, Dumenil, Troy, Nguyen, Wilson, Slonchak, Andrii, Sng, Julian, Khromykh, Alexander A, Lutzky, Viviana P, Rawle, Daniel J and Suhrbier, Andreas (2025). Evolution of Zika virus in Rag1-deficient mice selects for unique envelope glycosylation motif mutants that show enhanced replication fitness. Virus Evolution, 11 (1) veaf021, veaf021. doi: 10.1093/ve/veaf021
Goh, Jarvis Z. H., De Hayr, Lachlan, Khromykh, Alexander A. and Slonchak, Andrii (2024). The flavivirus Non-Structural Protein 5 (NS5): structure, functions, and targeting for development of vaccines and therapeutics. Vaccines, 12 (8) 865, 865. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12080865
Shaker, Mohammed R., Slonchak, Andrii, Al-Mhanawi, Bahaa, Morrison, Sean D., Sng, Julian D.J., Cooper-White, Justin, Khromykh, Alexander A. and Wolvetang, Ernst J. (2024). Choroid plexus defects in Down syndrome brain organoids enhance neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2. Science Advances, 10 (23) eadj4735, 1-23. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adj4735
Wang, Lan-Lan, Cheng, Qia, Newton, Natalee D., Wolfinger, Michael T., Morgan, Mahali S., Slonchak, Andrii, Khromykh, Alexander A., Cheng, Tian-Yin and Parry, Rhys H. (2024). Xinyang flavivirus, from Haemaphysalis flava ticks in Henan Province, China, defines a basal, likely tick-only Orthoflavivirus clade. Journal of General Virology, 105 (5) 001991, 1-13. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001991
Parry, Rhys H., Slonchak, Andrii, Campbell, Lewis J., Newton, Natalee D., Debat, Humberto J., Gifford, Robert J. and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2023). A novel tamanavirus (Flaviviridae) of the European common frog (Rana temporaria) from the UK. Journal of General Virology, 104 (12) 001927, 1-12. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001927
Shaker, Mohammed R., Slonchak, Andrii, Al-mhanawi, Bahaa, Morrison, Sean D., Sng, Julian D. J., Cooper-White, Justin, Khromykh, Alexander A. and Wolvetang, Ernst J. (2023). Choroid plexus defects in Down syndrome brain organoids enhance neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv, 10 (23) eadj4735, eadj4735. doi: 10.1101/2023.06.12.544552
Slonchak, Andrii, Chaggar, Harman, Aguado, Julio, Wolvetang, Ernst and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2023). Noncoding RNA of Zika virus affects interplay between Wnt-signaling and pro-apoptotic pathways in the developing brain tissue. Viruses, 15 (5) 1062, 1062. doi: 10.3390/v15051062
Speck, Peter, Mackenzie, Jason, Bull, Rowena A., Slobedman, Barry, Drummer, Heidi, Fraser, Johanna, Herrero, Lara, Helbig, Karla, Londrigan, Sarah, Moseley, Gregory, Prow, Natalie, Hansman, Grant, Edwards, Robert, Ahlenstiel, Chantelle, Abendroth, Allison, Tscharke, David, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Kriiger-Loterio, Robson, Parry, Rhys, Marsh, Glenn, Harding, Emma, Jacques, David A., Gartner, Matthew J., Lee, Wen Shi, McAuley, Julie, Vaz, Paola, Sainsbury, Frank, Tate, Michelle D., Sinclair, Jane ... Young, Paul (2023). Statement in Support of: “Virology under the Microscope—a Call for Rational Discourse”. Journal of Virology, 97 (5) e0045123, 1-3. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00451-23
Speck, Peter, Mackenzie, Jason, Bull, Rowena A., Slobedman, Barry, Drummer, Heidi, Fraser, Johanna, Herrero, Lara, Helbig, Karla, Londrigan, Sarah, Moseley, Gregory, Prow, Natalie, Hansman, Grant, Edwards, Robert, Ahlenstiel, Chantelle, Abendroth, Allison, Tscharke, David, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Kriiger-Loterio, Robson, Parry, Rhys, Marsh, Glenn, Harding, Emma, Jacques, David A., Gartner, Matthew J., Lee, Wen Shi, McAuley, Julie, Vaz, Paola, Sainsbury, Frank, Tate, Michelle D., Sinclair, Jane ... Young, Paul (2023). Statement in Support of: “Virology under the Microscope—a Call for Rational Discourse”. mSphere, 8 (3), e0016523. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00165-23
Speck, Peter, Mackenzie, Jason, Bull, Rowena A., Slobedman, Barry, Drummer, Heidi, Fraser, Johanna, Herrero, Lara, Helbig, Karla, Londrigan, Sarah, Moseley, Gregory, Prow, Natalie, Hansman, Grant, Edwards, Robert, Ahlenstiel, Chantelle, Abendroth, Allison, Tscharke, David, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Kriiger-Loterio, Robson, Parry, Rhys, Marsh, Glenn, Harding, Emma, Jacques, David A., Gartner, Matthew J., Lee, Wen Shi, McAuley, Julie, Vaz, Paola, Sainsbury, Frank, Tate, Michelle D., Sinclair, Jane ... Young, Paul (2023). Statement in Support of: “Virology under the Microscope—a Call for Rational Discourse”. mBio, 14 (3), e0081523. doi: 10.1128/mbio.00815-23
Speck, Peter, Mackenzie, Jason, Bull, Rowena A., Slobedman, Barry, Drummer, Heidi, Fraser, Johanna, Herrero, Lara, Helbig, Karla, Londrigan, Sarah, Moseley, Gregory, Prow, Natalie, Hansman, Grant, Edwards, Robert, Ahlenstiel, Chantelle, Abendroth, Allison, Tscharke, David, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Kriiger-Loterio, Robson, Parry, Rhys, Marsh, Glenn, Harding, Emma, Jacques, David A., Gartner, Matthew J., Lee, Wen Shi, McAuley, Julie, Vaz, Paola, Sainsbury, Frank, Tate, Michelle D., Sinclair, Jane ... Young, Paul (2023). Statement in Support of: “Virology under the Microscope-a Call for Rational Discourse”. Journal of Virology, 97 (5), 5. doi: 10.1128/jvi.00451-23
Slonchak, Andrii, Wang, Xiaohui, Aguado, Julio, Sng, Julian D. J., Chaggar, Harman, Freney, Morgan E., Yan, Kexin, Torres, Francisco J., Amarilla, Alberto A., Balea, Rickyle, Setoh, Yin Xiang, Peng, Nias, Watterson, Daniel, Wolvetang, Ernst, Suhrbier, Andreas and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2022). Zika virus noncoding RNA cooperates with the viral protein NS5 to inhibit STAT1 phosphorylation and facilitate viral pathogenesis. Science Advances, 8 (48) eadd8095, eadd8095. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add8095
Torres, Francisco J., Parry, Rhys, Hugo, Leon E., Slonchak, Andrii, Newton, Natalee D., Vet, Laura J., Modhiran, Naphak, Pullinger, Brody, Wang, Xiaohui, Potter, James, Winterford, Clay, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Hall, Roy A. and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2022). Reporter flaviviruses as tools to demonstrate homologous and heterologous superinfection exclusion. Viruses, 14 (7) 1501, 1501. doi: 10.3390/v14071501
Peng, Nias Y. G., Amarilla, Alberto A., Hugo, Leon E., Modhiran, Naphak, Sng, Julian D. J., Slonchak, Andrii, Watterson, Daniel, Setoh, Yin Xiang and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2022). The distinguishing NS5-M114V mutation in American Zika virus isolates has negligible impacts on virus replication and transmission potential. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16 (5) e0010426, 1-17. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010426
Slonchak, Andrii, Parry, Rhys, Pullinger, Brody, Sng, Julian D. J., Wang, Xiaohui, Buck, Teresa F., Torres, Francisco J., Harrison, Jessica J., Colmant, Agathe M. G., Hobson-Peters, Jody, Hall, Roy A., Tuplin, Andrew and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2022). Structural analysis of 3’UTRs in insect flaviviruses reveals novel determinants of sfRNA biogenesis and provides new insights into flavivirus evolution. Nature Communications, 13 (1) 1279, 1-16. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28977-3
Shaker, Mohammed R., Kahtan, Amna, Prasad, Renuka, Lee, Ju-Hyun, Pietrogrande, Giovanni, Leeson, Hannah C., Sun, Woong, Wolvetang, Ernst J. and Slonchak, Andrii (2022). Neural epidermal growth factor-like like protein 2 is expressed in human oligodendroglial cell types. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 10 803061, 803061. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.803061
Hazlewood, Jessamine E., Dumenil, Troy, Le, Thuy T., Slonchak, Andrii, Kazakoff, Stephen H., Patch, Ann-Marie, Gray, Lesley-Ann, Howley, Paul M., Liu, Liang, Hayball, John D., Yan, Kexin, Rawle, Daniel J., Prow, Natalie A. and Suhrbier, Andreas (2021). Injection site vaccinology of a recombinant vaccinia-based vector reveals diverse innate immune signatures. PLoS Pathogens, 17 (1) e1009215, 1-39. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009215
Rawle, Daniel J., Nguyen, Wilson, Dumenil, Troy, Parry, Rhys, Warrilow, David, Tang, Bing, Le, Thuy T., Slonchak, Andrii, Khromykh, Alexander A., Lutzky, Viviana P., Yan, Kexin and Suhrbier, Andreas (2020). Sequencing of historical isolates, k‐mer mining and high serological cross‐reactivity with Ross River virus argue against the presence of Getah virus in Australia. Pathogens, 9 (10) 848, 1-17. doi: 10.3390/pathogens9100848
Slonchak, Andrii, Hugo, Leon E., Freney, Morgan E., Hall-Mendelin, Sonja, Amarilla, Alberto A., Torres, Francisco J., Setoh, Yin Xiang, Peng, Nias Y. G., Sng, Julian D. J., Hall, Roy A., van den Hurk, Andrew F., Devine, Gregor J. and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2020). Zika virus noncoding RNA suppresses apoptosis and is required for virus transmission by mosquitoes. Nature Communications, 11 (1) 2205, 2205. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-16086-y
Slonchak, Andrii, Clarke, Brian, Mackenzie, Jason, Amarilla, Alberto Anastacio, Setoh, Yin Xiang and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2019). West Nile virus infection and interferon alpha treatment alter the spectrum and the levels of coding and noncoding host RNAs secreted in extracellular vesicles. BMC Genomics, 20 (1) 474, 474. doi: 10.1186/s12864-019-5835-6
Setoh, Yin Xiang, Amarilla, Alberto A., Peng, Nias Y. G., Griffiths, Rebecca E., Carrera, Julio, Freney, Morgan E., Nakayama, Eri, Ogawa, Shinya, Watterson, Daniel, Modhiran, Naphak, Nanyonga, Faith Elizabeth, Torres, Francisco J., Slonchak, Andrii, Periasamy, Parthiban, Prow, Natalie A., Tang, Bing, Harrison, Jessica, Hobson-Peters, Jody, Cuddihy, Thom, Cooper-White, Justin, Hall, Roy A., Young, Paul R., Mackenzie, Jason M., Wolvetang, Ernst, Bloom, Jesse D., Suhrbier, Andreas and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2019). Determinants of Zika virus host tropism uncovered by deep mutational scanning. Nature Microbiology, 4 (5), 876-887. doi: 10.1038/s41564-019-0399-4
Slonchak, Andrii and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2018). Subgenomic flaviviral RNAs: what do we know after the first decade of research. Antiviral Research, 159, 13-25. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2018.09.006
Prow, Natalie A., Tang, Bing, Gardner, Joy, Le, Thuy T., Taylor, Adam, Poo, Yee S., Nakayama, Eri, Hirata, Thiago D. C., Nakaya, Helder I., Slonchak, Andrii, Mukhopadhyay, Pamela, Mahalingam, Suresh, Schroder, Wayne A., Klimstra, William and Suhrbier, Andreas (2017). Lower temperatures reduce type I interferon activity and promote alphaviral arthritis. PL o S Pathogens, 13 (12) e1006788, e1006788. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006788
Setoh, Yin Xiang, Periasamy, Parthiban, Peng, Nias Yong Gao, Amarilla, Alberto A, Slonchak, Andrii and Khromykh, Alexander A (2017). Helicase Domain of West Nile Virus NS3 Protein Plays a Role in Inhibition of Type I Interferon Signalling. Viruses, 9 (11) 326, 1-13. doi: 10.3390/v9110326
Setoh, Yin Xiang, Amarilla, Alberto A., Peng, Nias Y., Slonchak, Andrii, Periasamy, Parthiban, Figueiredo, Luiz T. M., Aquino, Victor H. and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2017). Full genome sequence of Rocio virus reveal substantial variations from the prototype Rocio virus SPH 34675 sequence. Archives of Virology, 163 (1), 255-258. doi: 10.1007/s00705-017-3561-4
Slonchak, Andrii, Shannon, Rory P, Pali, Gabor and Khromykh, Alexander A (2016). Human miRNA miR-532-5p exhibits antiviral activity against West Nile virus via suppression of host genes SESTD1 and TAB3 required for virus replication. Journal of Virology, 90 (5), 2388-2402. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02608-15
Clarke, B. D., Roby, J. A., Slonchak, A. and Khromykh, A. A. (2015). Functional non-coding RNAs derived from the flavivirus 3' untranslated region. Virus Research, 206, 53-61. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2015.01.026
Slonchak, Andrii, Hussain, Mazhar, Torres Morales, Shessy, Asgari, Sassan and Khromykh, Alexander (2014). Expression of mosquito microRNA aae-miR-2940-5p is down-regulated in response to West Nile Virus infection to restrict viral replication. Journal of Virology, 88 (15), 8457-8467. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00317-14
Slonchak, A. M. and Obolenska, M. Yu (2009). Structure and functions of glutathione S-transferase Pl-1. Ukrain'skyi Biokhimichnyi Zhurnal, 81 (1), 5-13.
Slonchak, A. M., Chwieduk, A., Rzeszowska-Wolny, J. and Yu Obolenska, M. (2009). Transcription regulation in differential expression of the human GSTP1 gene in breast and choriocarcinoma cells. Ukrainskiǐ biokhimicheskiǐ zhurnal, 81 (4), 48-58.
Slonchak, A. M., Chwieduk, A., Rzeszowska-Wolny, J. and Obolenskaya, M. Yu. (2009). Crosstalk between transcription factors in regulation of the human glutathione S-transferase P1 gene expression in Me45 melanoma cells. Biopolymers and Cell, 25 (3), 210-217. doi: 10.7124/bc.0007DE
Slonchak, A. M., Martsenyuk, O. P., Rzeszowska-Wolny, J., Widlak, P. and Obolenska, M. Yu (2007). Some aspects of glutathione S-transferase P1-1 gene transcription regulation in human placenta. Ukrain'skyi Biokhimichnyi Zhurnal, 79 (4), 67-75.
Conference Paper
Slonchak, Andrii, Hugo, Leon E., Freney, Morgan, Amarilla, Alberto A., Hall-Mendelin, Sonja, Yan, Kexin, Torres, Francisco, Setoh, Yin Xiang, Peng, Nias, Chaggar, Harman K., Hurk, Andrew Van Den, Wolvetang, Ernst, Suhrbier, Andreas, Devine, Gregor J. and Khromykh, Alexander A. (2020). Zika Virus sfRNA plays an essential role in the infection of insects and mammals. Viruses 2020—Novel Concepts in Virology, Barcelona, Spain, 5–7 February 2020. Basel, Switzerland: MDPI. doi: 10.3390/proceedings2020050112