The AUD$54 million Bonn-Cumming Host-Directed Pandemic Therapeutics Research Program funds groundbreaking research into early immunity to develop novel targets for therapeutics for pathogens of pandemic potential.
Early immunity refers to the body’s first line of defence against invading pathogens. The partnership aims to develop a blueprint for therapeutics that trigger the body’s natural immune response into appropriate action to fight off infection, no matter the pathogen. This is a revolutionary change from the more common focus on individual treatments for specific pathogens and aims to make pandemic therapeutics available in much shorter timeframes than currently possible.
This partnership builds on a long-standing collaboration between the University of Bonn and the University of Melbourne. The two institutions established an International Research Training Group joint PhD program in 2016 to foster global collaborations in immunology. The program has supported over 80 PhD candidates to date.
Key people:
University of Melbourne
Sammy Bedoui (CIA)
Danielle Anderson
Andrew Brooks
Lachlan Coin
Axel Kallies
Katherine Kedzierska
Sharon Lewin
Sarah Londrigan
Jason Mackenzie
Julia Marshall
James McCarthy
Hamish McWilliam
Damian Purcell
Patrick Reading
Kanta Subbarao
Daniel Utzschneider
Elizabeth Vincan
University of Bonn
Christian Kurts (CIA)
Zeinab Abdullah
Anna Aschenbrenner
Eva Bartok
Natalio Garbi
Gunther Hartmann
Hiroki Kato
Jonathan Schmid-Burgk
Florian Schmidt
Joachim Schultze
Christoph Wilhelm