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Research Projects

Project: Harnessing the power of RNA technology for vaccines and therapeutics

Villadangos Group

mRNA vaccines are a new category of vaccines that are revolutionizing medicine. They emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the formulations by Pfizer and Moderna playing a central role in the fight against the disease. These advanced vaccines constitute a new frontier in vaccine development against infectious pathogens and cancer. Despite evidence of robust T cell and B cell immunity induced by mRNA vaccines, little is known about the cascade of immune events that lead to the priming of adaptive immunity. This project will investigate which cells capture and express the mRNA following vaccination and how mRNA-encoded antigens are presented to T cells and B cells. It will use a variety of techniques, including mRNA vaccine generation, animal work, gene editing and spectral flow cytometry. Outcomes from this project will provide new insights into the mechanism of action of mRNA vaccines and create opportunities for publications and commercial development.

Contact project supervisor for further
information and application enquiries

Project Supervisor

Professor Jose Villadangos

Project Co-supervisor

Dr Christophe Macri

Project availability
PhD/MPhil
Master of Biomedical Science
Honours

Villadangos Group

j.villadangos@unimelb.edu.au

6 vacancies

Themes
Immunology
Viral Infectious Diseases
Antimicrobial Resistance
Bacterial and Parasitic Infections
Cross Cutting Disciplines
Discovery Research
Clinical and health systems research

The Villadangos group studies the first event that triggers adaptive immune responses: the presentation of pathogen or tumour antigens to T cells by Dendritic Cells, B cells and Macrophages. We are characterizing the development, regulation and impairment of antigen presenting cells by pathogens, inflammatory mediators and tumours. We are also dissecting the biochemical machinery involved in antigen capture, processing, and presentation. We use this knowledge to understand how T cell-dependent immunity is initiated and maintained and apply it to design better vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious agents and cancer.

 

All our projects are open to Honours/Master of Biomedical Science students and PhD/MPhil graduate researchers

Villadangos Group Current Projects

Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.

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We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the land where our Institute stands.

We are committed to collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to reduce the unacceptable burden of infectious disease. We are committed to training the next generation of exceptional Indigenous leaders in infection and immunity.

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