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