Spreading the word on Immunology

Hear from Prof Andrew Brooks, Dept Microbiology & Immunology (DMI), plus find out what's on across the biomedical precinct in the lead up to the Day of Immunology 2023.

The Day of Immunology is an opportunity to celebrate the impact that immunology has on society and to share research insights into our extraordinary immune system.

Explore events

This year’s theme is ‘Immunology Talks to Public Health’. Professor Andrew Brooks, Head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and the Deputy Director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection & Immunity, is an immunology enthusiast. He hopes his own fascination with the subject will be infectious, as the Department’s immunologists continue to advance human health through their ground breaking research and outcomes.

Here are just a few of the Department's experts who have been recognised recently for their work.

• Professor Damian Purcell, was granted $5million from the Medical Research Future Fund to develop Australia's onshore mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability.
• Dr Carolien van de Sandt, a viral immunologist, was recognised with the 2022 Viruses Early Career Investigator Award. Carolien is working to understand virus-specific immune response and its role in protection against severe disease.
• Last year, Dr Brendon Chua, a viral and translational immunologist in the Kedzierska lab (Dept Microbiology & Immunology, Doherty Institute) received a highly competitive Ideas Grant to look at what drives tumour growth.

Professor Brooks says he is excited about the future of immunology, as improvements are made to how vaccines are delivered, and as our understanding of the links between the immune system, chronic illness and cancer deepens.

This seems a time of unprecedented expansion in our knowledge base, driven by the continual advent of new technologies and – perhaps most distinctively for this era – the increased use of interdisciplinary approaches that draw from physics and mathematics, through the biological sciences, to detailed analyses of clinical practice and outcomes.

^{Image: Prof Andrew Brooks laboratory group}

Day of Immunology Events

In recognition of the Day there are a number of discovery tours being held in medical research institutes across the Biomedical Precinct including the Doherty Institute. The Doherty Institute is also hosting a Public Lecture – Getting Under your Skin Immunity on 28th April and a 'Careers in Biomedical Science STEMinar' on 10th May. More details below.

Learn more about DMI

The Doherty Institute is a joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital