Microbiology and Immunology
Applied and
Environmental
Epidemiology
Tom Riley
Alec Redwood
Geoff Shellam
Cheryl Johansen
Tim Inglis
David Sutton
Barbara Chang
Tom Riley
Tim Inglis
Barry Marshall
Bioinformatics
and Genetics
Tim Perkins
Michael Wise
Chris Peacock
Alfred Tay
Host Pathogen
Charlene Kahler
Barbara Chang
Geoff Shellam
Alec Redwood
Chris Peacock
Allison Imrie
Microbiology
And
Immunology
Translational
Ondek
Cheryl Johansen
Tom Riley
Tim Inglis
Clinical
Tom Riley
Tim Inglis
Barry Marshall
Ben Clarke
Immunology
Manfred Beilharz
Alec Redwood
Geoff Stewart
Chris Peacock
Allison Imrie
Associate Professor Chris Peacock
Research areas:
Host Pathogen Interactions, Molecular Biology,
Genomics. Current projects:
1. The role of pathogenic and commensal microbes in
otitis media using a metagenomics approach.
2. Effects of low level in utero exposure to
environmental arsenic on epigenetic reprogramming
and susceptibility to infection.
3. Investigations into the use of the Australian marsupial
Leishmania as an attenuated vaccine for human
leishmaniasis.
4. Determination of the parasite genomic
factors responsible for a new clinical
drug insensitive phenotype in Brazilian
cutaneous leishmaniasis.
5. Identification of novel protozoal pathogens in
Australian wildlife.
Associate Professor David Sutton
Research area:
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
Current and recent projects:
1. Bacteriophages as alternative bacterial disease
control agents.
2. Novel antibacterial natural products with clinical and
industrial applications from marine bacteria and
invertebrates.
3. Pollution control based on industrial-scale bacterial
bioreactors.
4. A novel biotechnological approach to recovery of
phosphorus from wastewater.
5. Prevention and monitoring of biofilm formation in
drinking water distribution systems.
Cytomegalovirus Research Group
Geoff Shellam, Alec Redwood and Megan Lloyd
Host Pathogen Interactions, Molecular Virology,
Immunology and Genetic Epidemiology. Current
projects:
1) Epidemiology of HCMV in human breast milk
2) Multi-strain CMV infection
1)
2)
Viruses hunting in packs
Natural killer cells mediating viral competition
3) Viral immune evasion
4) Effects of genetic variation on host pathogen
interactions
Prof Barry Marshall and the Ondek Research Team
Ondek develops a delivery platform for vaccines and biologics based on
live Helicobacter pylori
Research area:
Helicobacter pylori pathogenesis and delivery technologies
Scientific projects:
Oral delivery of biologics and vaccine antigens using H. pylori , immunotherapies,
host-pathogen interaction, genetic tools construction, detection and containment
of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
Collaborators:
Assoc Prof Mohammed Benghezal, Dr. Alma Fulurija and the Ondek team
Associate Professor Manfred Beilharz
Cancer Immuno- and Complementary
therapies
1. Immunotherapy of cancer based on
regulatory T cell manipulation.
2. Anti-cancer properties of tea tree oil, a
natural renewable Australian product.
Type 1 Interferon and Influenza
3. Extension of low-dose oral interferon
results from a phase IIb clinical trial for
winter colds and flu.
6
Prof Barbara Chang
Research Area: Molecular bacteriology;
bacteriophages; virulence factors;
plasmids
Projects:
1. Virulence determinants of
WA Aeromonas isolates
2. Aeromonas phages and their
role in virulence
3. Moraxella catarrhalis
bacteriophages
Aeromonas infection
p.4
Associate Professor Allison Imrie
Research areas:
Host Pathogen Interactions, Molecular
Epidemiology, Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Current projects:
1. Cross-reactivity in Flavivirus (Murray Valley
encephalitis virus, dengue virus and Japanese
encephalitis virus) -specific immunity
2. Immunodominance and the dengue-specific memory T
cell receptor repertoire
3. Long-term dengue virus-specific memory T cell
phenotype and function, > 6 decades after infection
4. Molecular epidemiology of dengue and chikungunya
viruses in Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Bali
Professor Tim Inglis
0.8
Research areas:
0.6
Norm. Fluoro.
• Clinical microbiology
• Applied microbial bioinformatics
• Field applications of molecular
microbiology
• Antibiotic resistance mechanisms in Gram
negative bacteria
• Drinking and recreational water
microbiology
0.4
0.2
0.0
Threshold
5
10
15
20
25
Cycle
30
35
40
45
50
Projects:
 the Burkholderia pseudomallei metabolome
 field investigation of mosquito-borne viruses
 molecular epidemiology of multi-resistant
Enterobacteriaceae
p.16
Associate Professor Charlene Kahler
Research area:
Bacterial pathogens causing sepsis
(esp. Neisseria spp.)
Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Projects:
1. Outer membrane and endotoxin
biogenesis in Neisseria
A model for disease
2. Endotoxin synthesis in Neisseria
Structural Biology
3. Gene regulation in Neisseria spp.
4. Cellular biology of the
Application
nasopharynx (Disease treatment)
5. Protein folding in the periplasm of
Gram negative bacteria
Chemistry
(Drug design)
p.23
W/Professor Geoff Stewart
Research area: Immunology & Bacteriology
Inflammatory lung diseases, such as asthma and rhinitis;
House dust mite and rye grass pollen allergy
Kallikrein-Kinin System
Projects:
1) Modulatory effects of proteases and protease
activated receptors on respiratory epithelial
cell function
2) Cloning, expression and characterisation of
bacteriolytic enzymes and antimicrobial
peptides
3) Characterisation of endosymbiotic bacteria
from the house dust mite
4) Activation of the Kallikrein-kinin system on
epithelial cells
Professor Tom Riley
Major research areas:
Clostridium difficile infection
Antimicrobial and natural products research
Projects:
Epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Australia
New methods of detecting C. difficile
New treatments for C. difficile infection
C. difficile infection in animals
C. difficile in food
Effects of tea tree oil on Candida albicans
investigated by flow cytometry
7. Interference of essential oil terpenes with microbial
quorum sensing
8. Antimicrobial activity of Western Australian honeys
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Niki Foster, Briony Elliott, Kate Hammer, Christine
Carson, Kerry Carson, Dan Knight, Pim Putsathit