Seminars - Department of Microbiology and Immunology

Below seminars are held in the Doherty Auditorium, Ground Floor.
Update February 2023: Department Research Seminars will be an in-person event and PhD Orations will be delivered in a hybrid format.

Research Seminars - Held on Thursdays from 12:00pm – 1:00pm.

Special Research Seminars - In addition to the usual Thursday Research Seminars, there may be occasional Special Research Seminars which could be held at different times.

PhD Completion Orations - Held on Wednesdays  from 1:00pm – 2:00pm.  Celebrations will occur on the same day in the tearoom at 4:30pm.

Seminar attendees are welcome to refreshments after every each seminar.

Enquiries: micro-admin@unimelb.edu.au

2023 DEPARTMENT RESEARCH SEMINAR SCHEDULE

DATESPEAKERTITLEHOST
7 February Tuesday 1pm

Prof. Paul Thomas
(St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, USA)

A/Prof. Aubree Gordon (University of Michigan, USA)

'Deconstructing the form and function of T cell responses to viral infections’



'Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infection and reinfection in a paediatric cohort'

Prof Katherine Kedzierska
8 February
Wednesday 12pm 
Prof Mark Travis
(University of Manchester, UK) 
'Regulation of mucosal immunity by integrins and TGF-beta' Prof Laura Mackay
9  February
1pm 
Dr Edwin Leeansyah
(Tsinghua University, China) 
'Exploring the role of MAIT cells in gastrointestinal infections using human intestinal organoid platforms' Prof Sharon Lewin
2 March
1pm  
Prof Dr Diana Dudziak
(University Hospital of Erlangen, Germany) 
'Distinct regulation of inflammatory response in dendritic cell subpopulations' Prof Jose Villadangos
30 March A/Prof Paul Norman
(University of Colorado)
'Evolution Modulates Human Natural Killer Cell Functions' Dr Oanh Nguyen
4 April
Tuesday 12pm 
Prof Janko Nikolich (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) 'Age-related changes in lymph node stroma and their impact on immunity to infections' Prof Katherine Kedzierska
6 April Dr. Thomas Ashhurst
(Sydney Cytometry Core Research Facility)
'Integration and analysis of high-dimensional cytometry, single-cell, and spatial data for comprehensive immune profiling' Dr Oanh Nguyen
18 May A/Prof Kirsty Short
(University of Queensland) 
'Host transcriptomics and machine learning provide a novel forward predictive model for bacterial infections in patients with COVID-19' Dr Sarah Londrigan
1 June A/Prof Danae Schulz
(Harvey Mudd College) 
'Characterizing chromatin mechanisms that drive differentiation in the African trypanosome' Dr Michael Duffy
Wednesday
7 June
Prof Antje Blumenthal
(University of Queensland)
'Towards improved treatments for tuberculosis' Prof Andrew Brooks
Tuesday
13 June, 2pm
Prof Martina Sanderson-Smith
(University of Wollongong)
'Unravelling Mechanisms of group A Streptococcal virulence.' Prof Andrew Brooks
15 June Dr Andy Flies
(University of Tasmania) 
'Developing a vaccine system for the Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease.' Dr Louise Rowntree
29 June A/Prof Maria Kaparakis-Liaskos (RMIT) 'Composition, functions and therapeutic applications of bacterial membrane vesicles.' Prof Andrew Brooks
13 July Dr Amanda Oliver
(Wellcome Sanger Institute)
'Decoding mucosal immunity using single cell and spatial transcriptomics'
Zoom webinar:  
875 7283 7826 (Passcode: 275224)
A/Prof Ash Haque
20 July A/Prof Andreas Behren
(Olivia Newton-John Cancer Institute) 
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/32159-1 Dr Susan Christo
3 August
1:15pm 
Prof Clare Jolly
(University College London) 
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/32137-1 Dr Sarah Londrigan
17 August
1:00pm 
Dr Francesca Short
(Monash University) 
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/32983-1 Dr Stephanie Neville
24 August
1:00pm 
Gaya K. Amarasinghe, PhD
(Washington University)
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/32860-1 A/Prof Sophie Valkenburg
7 September Steffen Jung, PhD, Professor https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/33270-1 Prof Sammy Bedoui
19 October Prof Tri Phan
(Garvan Institute) 
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34247-prof-tri-phan-garvan-institute-super-deep Prof Scott Mueller
Friday 10 November 1pm
Prof Marnix Medema (Bioinformatics at Wageningen University & Research)
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34905-deciphering-the-chemical-language-of-microbiomes Dr Sacha Pidot
16 NovemberDr Brendon Chua (DMI)https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/35247-dr-brendon-chua-department-of-microbiology-andProf Katherine Kedzierska
23 NovemberDr Pirooz Zareie (DMI)https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/35212-novel-mechanisms-of-t-cell-antigen-recognition-andDr Susan Christo
7 DecemberDr Glen Carter (DMI)https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/35561-dr-glen-carter-university-of-melbourne-theDr Nick Scott
14 DecemberA/Prof Jennifer Hyde
(University of Washington) 
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/35556-aprof-jennifer-hyde-university-of-washington-roleProf Jason Mackenzie

2023 PhD COMPLETION ORATION SCHEDULE

Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162

DATESPEAKERTITLEHOST
31 January Tuesday 4pm
Helena Horvatic
'Obesity impairs virus-specific memory CD8+ T cell signalling and function'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Kallies lab
1 February Lena Standke
'Impact of inflammasome-induced extracellular vesicles on different bystander cells'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Bedoui lab
8 February 4pm Rachel Pascoe
'Pomalidomide enhances NK cell and HIV-specific CD8+ T cell immunity to drive clearance of HIV-infected cells'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Lewin lab
15 February Marcel Michla
'Control of pulmonary immunity by physical exercise'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Mackay lab
22 February Ioanna Germuend
'Multi-layer single-cell omics applications in the context of infection'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Kedzierska lab
1 March    4pm Paula Cevaal
'Targeting the untargetable: Eliminating HIV latency using nanoparticle delivery systems'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Lewin lab
8 March Jessie Chang
'Interrogating host-pathogen interactions during SARS-CoV-2 infection using RNA-sequencing'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Lachlan lab
14 March Tuesday 4pm Zoom only Freya Kretzmer
'Development of a CRISPR/Cas9 based RiboTag strategy to identify regulators of melanoma immune interaction'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Gebhardt lab
15 March Magnus G. Jespersen
'Characterising the genome dynamics of group A Streptococcal evolution'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Davies lab
22 March
4pm        
Manja Thiem
'Role of the chemokines CCL17 and CCL22 in bacterial infection and IL-33-induced immune responses'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Strugnell/Villadangos labs
23 March      Thursday 10am Florian Gohr
'Antiviral and antimicrobial inflammasome activation in intestinal epithelial organoids'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Mackenzie lab
29 March    Zoom only Fatemeh Khatami
Role of ACKR3 in Cell Physiology and Pathology
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
F Mackay lab
19 April Dominik Schienstock
'Cecelia: An image analysis toolbox to uncover immune cell interactions and behaviour'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Mueller lab
26 April Navnett Kaur
'Characterization of the essential histidine kinase WalK from Staphylococcus aureus'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
McDevitt  lab
3 May
4pm 
Haoming Liu
'Developing Triplex Forming Oligonucleotides as a 'Block and Lock' Strategy for an HIV Cure'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Lewin lab
10 May Laura McCoullough
'CRISPR-Cas13b: A potential new novel therapy for hepatitis B infection'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Revill lab
17 May Charlie Higgs
'The application of whole genome sequencing to the understanding, surveillance, and control of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in Australia'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Howden lab
31 May  Not available - DMI Retreat 
28 June at 4pm zoom only Adham Mohamed
'RIG-I Stimulation: Towards enhancing the function of cytotoxic lymphocytes'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Brooks/Schlee labs
26 July - MPhil Oration Shirley Le
'γδ T cell-derived IL-4 promotes cellular immunity to liver-stage malaria'
Zoom Webinar ID: 869 6223 1391 Password: 230162
Heath lab
2 August  
Not available - PhD Program Event
 
23 August 4pm zoom only Tarek Elmzzahi Kallies lab
30 August Adrianna Turner Carter/Howden labs
6 September Sara Zufan Howden lab
13 September Meghanashree Malavvar Shreenivas Strugnell lab
27 September  

Not available - Teaching purposes

 
4 October Isabelle Foo https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34156-investigating-the-immune-response-and-immunopathology- Kedzierska lab
11 October Wuji Zhang https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34251-understanding-human-immunity-to-influenza-and Kedzierska lab
18 October at 12pm Jennifer Habel https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34396-understanding-key-correlates-of-severe-respiratory Kedzierska lab
15 November at 12pmCameron WilliamsHaque lab
22 November 4pm
Katharina Mauel
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/biomedical-sciences/event/34896-cellular-and-molecular-dynamics-of-splenic-myeloid Heath lab
29 November
 

Not available - ACH2 Conference

 
6 December  Not available 
13 December  
Not available – DMI EOY Function
 
20 December Not available - AV upgrade