15 Dec 2023
Doherty Institute researchers awarded $10 million in NHMRC Investigator Grants
Nine researchers from the Doherty Institute have successfully secured more than $10 million in funding for research ranging from fundamental immunology to vaccines and therapeutics for pandemic threats, thanks to the NHMRC Investigator Grant scheme.
The largest funding scheme of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Investigator Grants support high-performing researchers at all career stages with funding for health and medical research over a period of five years, giving them the flexibility to pursue new research directions and explore collaborations.
University of Melbourne’s Dr Louise Rowntree, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Doherty Institute, expressed her gratitude to the NHMRC, highlighting that respiratory viruses are a threat to global health through recurrent seasonal epidemics and periodic catastrophic pandemics.
“As an early-career researcher, this grant will support me for the next five years to investigate the ability of killer T cells to provide long-lasting immunity and hence protection against future infections in high-risk populations,” said Dr Rowntree.
“I am grateful for the support of my supervisor, Professor Katherine Kedzierska, who has played a pivotal role in this success.”
University of Melbourne’s Dr Kevin Man, a Postdoctoral Research Officer at the Doherty Institute said the recognition would facilitate a transition to independence in his work on how T cells function to treat inflammation and cancer.
“It will allow me to establish a research group to investigate the interplay between systemic metabolism, the immune system and the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract, and how these interactions may dictate and influence outcomes to infection and cancer,” said Dr Man.
“I would like to thank Professor Axel Kallies for his ongoing mentorship and support.”
University of Melbourne’s Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Doherty Institute, also a recipient of an Investigator Grant for her research on novel interventions to treat and cure acute and chronic viral infections, congratulated the grantees.
“It is fantastic to see grants being awarded to prepare for future pandemics, innovate in our response to major global health threats alongside discovery research and fundamental immunology,” said Professor Lewin.
“I congratulate all grant recipients and their teams – they are a testament to the incredible work being done by the Institute in the field of infection and immunity.”
NHMRC Investigator Grant recipients from the Doherty Institute:
Understanding and Harnessing gamma-delta T cell-mediated tumour Immunity $662,040
Defining phenotypic diversity in CD4+ T cells to better protect against malaria $662,040
Harnessing antiviral antibodies for pandemic preparedness $579,632
Novel interventions to treat and cure acute and chronic viral infections $2,000,000
Uncovering microenvironmental factors that regulate tissue resident memory T cell stability and function to treat inflammation and cancer $1,486,190
Advancing Diagnosis of Neuroinflammatory Diseases through Metagenomics, Host Transcriptomics and Genomics $662,040
Harnessing optimal anti-viral CD8+ T cell immunity for high-risk populations $662,040
Scalable genotype to phenotype prediction for pathogen tracking and diagnostics $662,040
Dr Gerry Tonkin-Hill
Rational Improvement of Vaccines and Therapeutics for Pandemic Threats $2,769,655
Visit https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/funding/find-funding/investigator-grants to find out more about the NHMRC Investigator Grant scheme.