Understanding ‘universal’ influenza-specific CD8+ T cell responses

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  Project Leader
  Associate Professor Katherine Kedzierska

  kkedz@unimelb.edu.au

  View researcher's webpage

  +61 3 8347 1540

Project Details

Although CD8+ T-cells confer universal immunity to distinct influenza viruses and may limit influenza-induced mortality, the overall efficacy of human influenza A virus-specific CD8+ T cells directed at any conserved and/or variable epitopes remains unclear. Here, we aim to:

1. understand influenza-specific CD8+ T-cell immunity across different HLAs;
2. determine the efficacy of immunodominant CD8+ T-cell responses in humans;
3. evaluate the conservation of immunogenic epitopes in birds, pigs and humans through analysis of viral evolutionary history (with A/Prof Vijaykrishna; Duke-NUS, Singapore);
4. understand immunity to clinically important but understudied influenza B viruses.