The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr Kevin John Selva


Dr Kevin John Selva is an early career researcher in the Chung group at the Doherty Institute. After obtaining his degree in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Kevin worked at A*STAR and the Singapore Eye Research Institute developing ocular tissue models and studying adenovirus infections. Kevin then completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2019, under the supervision of Dr Matthew Parsons and Professor Stephen Kent, investigating the immunosuppressive effects of seminal plasma on HIV-1 cellular immunity. Kevin now leads research in the Chung Lab, focused upon the characterisation of mucosal antibodies against respiratory infectious diseases (TB, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza) across different age groups (children, adults, elderly).

  • Key Achievements
    • Dr. Kevin John Selva is passionate about understanding protective mucosal immunity against infectious diseases. Kevin’s COVID-19 research has not only highlighted how children mount better immune responses against SARS-CoV-2, but also uncovered that poorer responses among the elderly were due to biases in pre-existing immunity.

      Kevin has published numerous first authored quality publications in leading journals including Nature Communications, Cell Reports Medicine and JCI insight and has contributed to over 20 publications, several of which that have since gone on to advise government policies. The importance of Kevin’s research is reflected by his numerous conference and early career awards including the ASI Career Advancement Award, the University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant and the VC2 COVID-19 Research Seed Funding to support his mucosal antibody research.

    Publications
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    Research Groups
    • Chung group

      The Chung group is interested in understanding the biophysical and functional properties of antibodies that are associated with protection against a range of infectious diseases, which will provide important insights to improve antibody-based vaccines and therapies.


      Lab Team

      Chung group

    Student Projects