Infection and immunity
Our infection and immunity research encompasses the study of microbial pathogens and the response to infection by their hosts. Specific areas of interest include molecular virology, bacterial pathogenesis, fungal pathogenesis, and innate immunity. We use classical and modern experimental approaches as well as powerful bioinformatic tools to decipher mechanisms by which microbial pathogens interact with their hosts to facilitate their propagation and cause pathogenicity. Another highly active area of research is the development of vaccines and therapeutics leveraging the knowledge obtained from in depth studies of host response to infection.
Theme leader: Professor Alex Khromykh
Research disciplines
Biochemistry and molecular biology
Biotechnology
Inorganic chemistry
Microbiology
Organic chemistry
Physical and computational chemistry
Research themes
Advanced functional materials
Biomolecular and medicinal chemistry
Computational molecular science
Infection and immunity
Molecular genetics and genomics
Science education
Structural biology and biochemistry
Synthesis and catalysis
Theme members
Professor Stephen Barker - Evolutionary genetics and genomics of parasitic arthropods
Dr Seweryn Bialasiewicz - Microbial ecology of the human body
Professor James Fraser - Sex virulence and evolution in pathogenic fungi
Professor Bostjan Kobe - Structural biology of proteins involved in infection and immunity
Associate Professor Michael Landsberg - Structure and function of molecular machines
Professor Avril Robertson - Drug design and development, medicinal chemistry, synthetic organic chemistry
Professor Ben Schulz - Viral glycobiology
Associate Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski - Development of vaccines and immunostimulators