Description
Protective immunity to malaria is mediated by antibodies that block parasite growth. Antibody development occurs within the germinal centres, and during blood stage infection, the spleen is a key site of germinal centre development. Understanding immune development within this key site is challenging due to the difficulties in obtaining human secondary lymphoid tissues during infection.
This project will use unique human spleen samples collected from individuals with a current or prior malaria infection in Indonesia. Immune responses to malaria directly within the germinal centre will be analysed. You will learn to apply advanced immunology techniques (for example multiparametric flow cytometry, RNAseq, multiomic analysis, spatial profiling), and analyse data using bioinformatic pipelines, and advanced statistical methods.
Understanding the immune response directly in the tissue where germinal centre development occurs will revolutionise our understanding of immune development in human infection. Findings have the potential to inform future vaccine development to optimise protective response to malaria and other infectious diseases.
This project would suit individual with fluent Bahasa Indonesian
Essential criteria:
Minimum entry requirements can be found here: https://www.monash.edu/admissions/entry-requirements/minimum
Keywords
Malaria, immunity, germinal centres, multiomic analysis, infectious disease, human immunity,
Available options
PhD/Doctorate
Masters by research
Honours
BMedSc(Hons)
Time commitment
Full-time
Part-time
Top-up scholarship funding available
Yes
Year 1:
$15000
Year 2:
$15000
Year 3:
$15000
Year 4:
$15000
Physical location
Burnet Institute
Co-supervisors
Dr
Damian Oyong
Dr
Steven Kho
(External)