Our Immunovirology and Pathogenesis Program works in the Kirby Institute laboratories to uncover new knowledge on how the human immune system responds to infectious agents. Our activities can be divided into three broad categories:
- We provide essential laboratory support for the successful conduct of Kirby Institute-led clinical trials and epidemiological studies. This includes processing specimens and conducting specialised immunological and virological tests.
- We conduct clinical trials and natural history studies in populations of people with HIV.
- We conduct a variety of research projects related to pathogenesis and the development of therapies.
Immunopathogenesis refers to the way a disease develops and the body’s immune response. Our work in this area currently relates to CD4 T-cell function in early HIV infection and in natural controllers of the disease.
We work collaboratively with the other Kirby Institute programs, the St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, the St Vincent’s NSW HIV Reference laboratory and a number of Australian and international groups with current collaborations with groups based in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Thailand.
Most of our work is done in our state of the art PC3 laboratory, the highest containment laboratory on the UNSW campus.
