Head, Mucosal Immunity and Cancer Laboratory

I am inspired by the complex immune cell networks which exist in the intestine and I strive every day to unlock the potential of harnessing immune cells to enhance the killing of tumour cells. 

I am a Victorian Cancer Agency Fellow and Head of the Mucosal Immunity and Cancer Laboratory. I have honorary appointments at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), the University of Melbourne, and La Trobe University. I am also an expert in immune cell biology in intestinal homeostasis and gastrointestinal cancers. I obtained my PhD from the National Institutes of Health, USA, in 2009, before performing my postdoctoral studies at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and WEHI in Melbourne.

I led numerous studies during this time, which revealed correlations between our diet and the transcriptional regulation of intestinal innate lymphoid cell (ILC) and gd T cell populations. These studies opened up an exciting new frontier of research in the field of mucosal immunology, which underpins my current work studying the role of these cells in gastrointestinal cancers.