News & events

Unearthing the Basis of Autoimmune Disease

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

CPI Chief Investigator, Professor Richard Kitching of Monash University has discovered the mechanism that explains how key genetic risk factors cause or protect people from autoimmune disease such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease.

As senior co-author, he has published a paper in Nature answering the fundamental questions: why, and how, does having different immune molecules change a person’s underlying genetic risk of developing an autoimmune disease?

To see the full article, please visit: https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature22329.html

Watch the animation below which illustrates the DR1 molecule at work:

Employing precision and personalized medicine | Carola G. Vinuesa

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The autoimmune disease lupus is one of many where the genes involved may differ widely from individual to individual, meaning treatments that help one patient may not help another.

Professor Carola G. Vinuesa, who heads the Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease at ANU, describes how it is possible to make personalised mouse models to test treatment for an individual – and discusses how this process could become more affordable.

 

 

Rare Disease Day Morning Tea 2017

Thursday, February 16, 2017

A morning tea will be held in support of Rare Disease Day on Tuesday, 28 February 2017. Join us in making the voice of rare diseases heard.

The Rare Disease Day 2017 theme ‘Research Brings Hope’ recognises the crucial role that patients play in voicing their needs and in instigating change that improves their lives and the lives of their families and carers.

The Rare Disease Day 2017 slogan ‘Join us in making the voice of rare diseases heard’ appeals to a wider audience, those that are not living with or directly affected by a rare disease, to join the rare disease community in making known the impact of rare diseases. People living with a rare disease and their families are often isolated. The wider community can help to bring them out of this isolation.

Please show your support by coming to the Morning Tea, hosted by the Australian Phenomics facility and the Centre for Personalised Immunology.  The morning tea will be held in the JCSMR Tea Room at 10:30am on the 28 February 2017

The Elizabeth Green Scholarship 2016

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

This PhD Scholarship has been established in memory of Ms Elizabeth Greene through the very generous support of The Peter and Susan Yates Foundation, to encourage

research into understanding pathophysiological pathways in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, particularly Lupus, in order to make diagnoses more accurate and treatment more effective.

The 2016 Elizabeth Greene Scholarship was awarded to Mr Grant Brown, a PhD student in Professor Carola Vinuesa's laboratory, by Mr Peter Yates AM.

NHMRC Fellowship Recipients Announced

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Professor Carola Vinuesa was among the five Australian National University academics to be recognised by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) with Research Fellowships and Early Career Fellowships.

Professor Vinuesa received a Research Fellowship for her work in disease research and will receive $763,845 from the NHMRC.

Professor Vinuesa said the fellowship gives her enormous financial and psychological stability which allows her to plan ahead, take some risks and reduce the burden of non-research responsibilities.

"I will do my very best to return the dollars invested in me, so that patients suffering from immune diseases can benefit from my team's discoveries and young students and researchers grow under our mentorship and training," she said.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt congratulated the winners and said their research would make a real difference to the lives of people around the world.

Educating Students and Clinicians on Genomic Medicine

Monday, August 8, 2016

The 2016 School of Personalised Immunology was held on the 23-24 July at the Translational Research Facility, Monash Health Translation Precinct in Clayton, Melbourne. Students, clinicians and medical students from hospitals and research institutes in Melbourne attended the School, co-convened by Professor David Fulcher and Dr Julia Ellyard.

The one and a half-day course covered genomics, from basic genomics to advance bioinformatics and the latest techniques used in exome and genome sequencing. It included a half-day workshop where attendees were given the opportunity to put theoretical knowledge into practice. There was also discussion on the ethical implications and issues involved in the integration of genome sequencing in medicine.

The program, organised and run by the CPI, emphasised the various disciplines involved and the challenges facing the future of genomic medicine.

A copy of the preliminary program can be found here.

Our Research Featured in Stories of Australian Science

Monday, June 6, 2016

An article highlighting the extensive work of Professor Carola Vinuesa and her team investigating the role of genetics in autoimmune diseases at the Centre for Personalised Immunology has been published online in Stories of Australian Science. This is an annual publication produced by Science in Public containing a collection of stories covering “Australian discovery, innovation, invention and research” of the past year.

It will be included in the annual Stories of Australian Science 2016 to be published later this year.

To read the full article please head to Stories of Australian Science’s website.

 

 

Genetics and Immune Disease - Public Lecture

Thursday, April 14, 2016

We are pleased to announce that one of our Chief Investigators, Professor David Fulcher, along with our Co-directors, Professors Carola Vinuesa and Matthew Cook will be presenting a public lecture on Genetics and Immune Diseases at the Translational Research Facility, Monash Health Translation Precinct in July (details below).

The immune system is what protects our bodies from disease and infection. However, in some people this system breaks down and can cause what are collectively known as immune-related diseases. These include autoimmune diseases (eg. lupus) where the immune systems attacks healthy tissue and immune deficiencies (eg. primary immunedeficiency) where part of the immune system is completely absent. Recent advances in gene technology has improved our understanding of the major role a person's genome plays in immune diseases.

In this lecture, Professors Fulcher, Vinuesa and Cook will provide a general overview of how the immune system works, discuss the important role of genetics and the implications for human health.

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