Project: Next generation humanised mouse platform to fast-track therapeutic discovery
Utzschneider Group
Preclinical animal models are a powerful tool for the discovery, development and evaluation of effective therapeutics. However, remaining differences to the human immune system critically limit the use of animal models for a wide range of known or emerging human diseases. To close this gap between preclinical models and human studies, we will develop a sophisticated humanised mouse model platform to serve as a ‘plug and play’ technology that is widely accessible to foster collaboration. Ultimately, this innovative platform will form the foundation to remove the barriers to long-term innovation and fast-track the development and translation of novel therapeutics.
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Utzschneider Group
2 vacancies
CD8+ T cells persistently exposed to antigen, such as during chronic viral infections and in tumors, undergo substantial functional and phenotypic changes, a state widely known as T cell ‘exhaustion’. This includes impairments in effector function and elevated expression of inhibitory receptors such as PD-1. Inhibitory receptors constitute critical checkpoints in T cell activation and their expression represents a major mechanism by which T cell proliferation and function are limited. Blocking the activity of PD-1 augments T cell mediated immunity and has revolutionized our approach to the treatment of many cancers. However, despite the unparalleled success of this so-called checkpoint blockade, it does not revert the functional impairments linked to T cell exhaustion, which constitutes a critical limitation in utilizing the full potential of the body’s immune response.
Our group studies the mechanisms inducing T cell exhaustion with the ultimate goal to identify targets that can lead to the design and development of novel therapeutic treatments to improve health of patients suffering from chronic infections or cancer.
Utzschneider Group Current Projects
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Integrating multiomics to decipher regulators of T cell function in chronic infection and cancer
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science
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Targeting of exhausted T cells to improve immunity to chronic infections and cancer
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
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Next generation humanised mouse platform to fast-track therapeutic discovery
PhD/MPhil, Master of Biomedical Science, Honours
Research degrees at the Doherty Institute are administered by the University of Melbourne.