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A new era for global immunology

“We’re unlocking new frontiers of discovery, forging a future where immune health can be transformed into a visible picture that can be measured and understood.”
Professor Ken Smith
Director, WEHI

About our research

The centre’s interconnected research and clinical programs will focus on three grand challenges. These include how to:

  • predict who is most at risk of developing an immune disease
  • measure, monitor and modify the immune system to maintain optimal health and avoid illness
  • accelerate personalised treatment approaches for immune diseases.

Research focus

Three interconnected research and clinical programs are planned:

Program 1: Measure

Develop an expanded toolbox of tests to measure immune health.

Program 2: Model

Build models that enable us to create simulations of an individual’s immune system. These models will more quickly design, test and develop new personalised diagnosis methods and treatments.

Program 3: Monitor and Modify

Establish patient groups, working initially at Royal Melbourne Hospital (then expanding nationally) to collect detailed clinical and treatment data. Monitoring these groups over time, we will develop new approaches and more personalised treatments for immune diseases.

WEHI’s Professor Daniel Gray shares how the Snow Centre for Immune Health’s pioneering research approach, integrated with the Royal Melbourne Hospital, will accelerate discoveries in the lab to benefit patients.

“Side-by-side collaboration between researchers and clinicians, constantly sharing knowledge from the lab to bedside and back again, is the driving force of innovation in patient care.”
Professor Shelley Dolan
Chief Executive, the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Understanding the immune system

Our breakthrough science begins with a key question: How does the immune system sense, measure and match its response to specific challenges?

This is a complex and difficult problem, but our research teams have made a conceptual breakthrough.

This unique approach has the potential to guide personalised prevention and disease treatment strategies worldwide.

At a glance

Sensitive immune cells

Immune cells gather signals from threats and fine-tune their response. They carefully adjust their reactions based on the level of threat, like adjusting a dial.

Everyone is unique

These cells are incredibly sensitive and altered by even slight genetic differences between individuals.

Measuring immune dials

We can measure and compare the performance of these ‘dials’ in immune cells. This provides a new way to assess a person’s immune health.

Discovering these cellular dials opens a new window into understanding how an immensely complicated system operates – shedding light on a mystery.

This breakthrough is crucial for understanding the immune system. It also has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of biology, potentially leading to advancements in other major health challenges too.

Our team

Professor Phil Hodgkin

Professor Phil Hodgkin

Snow Centre for Immune Health, co-director | Joint Head of the Immunology Division, WEHI

Expertise

  • cell signaling: specialist in immune cell regulation
  • immunology and immunotherapy: pioneer in immune regulation theories and experimental approaches
  • computational biology: innovator in methods for integrating molecular and cellular dynamics to predict immune function and develop mathematical models of immune responses.
Professor Jo Douglass AO

Professor Jo Douglass AO

Snow Centre for Immune Health, co-director | Director of Research, the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Expertise

  • allergy and immunology: globally recognised allergy and respiratory physician
  • biological therapies: advisor on immunoglobulin therapy, asthma biologics and standards of care for allergic and immune disorders
  • clinical translation: key driver of extensive policy change, clinical trials and consumer engagement.
Dr Paul Lyons

Dr Paul Lyons

Snow Centre for Immune Health, Chief Consulting Scientist

Dr Paul Lyons guides the team of scientists and clinicians at the Snow Centre to create a research environment that will facilitate groundbreaking research into real-world clinical applications. With over 20 years of experience at the University of Cambridge, Paul is well-equipped to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and clinical impact.

Expertise

  • Investigating how genetic variations influence the immune system and contribute to disease development
  • Genomic approaches to the study of autoimmune disease
  • Involved in the establishment of the Cambridge Hinxton Centre for Translational Research in Autoimmune Disease – aimed at applying expression profiling to the clinical management of autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and small vessel vasculitis

Dr Vanessa Bryant

Snow Centre for Immune Health, co-deputy director | Laboratory head, WEHI | Senior Clinical Scientist, the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Expertise

  • human immunology: specialist in understanding human immune disorders, particularly primary immunodeficiencies through functional immunology, clinical genomics and high-resolution single cell omics
  • immunogenomics: discovered new genetic causes of rare antibody deficiencies, enabling personalised care for patients with weakened immune systems
  • clinical genomics: leader in national genomic initiatives aimed to implement genomics as standard care for immune disorders, including Immunogenomics Flagship programs of Australian Alliance for Indigenous Genomics (ALIGN) and Melbourne Genomics.

Dr Charlotte Slade

Snow Centre for Immune Health, co-deputy director | Clinical immunologist, the Royal Melbourne Hospital | Laboratory head, WEHI

Expertise

  • genomics: discovered new genetic disorders and delivered precision care for patients living with rare immune disorders
  • immunology, infection and inflammation: brings a unique strength to discover sources of immune dysfunction and designs personalised therapies, through combined roles at RMH and WEHI.

Professor Daniel Gray

Joint Head of the Immunology Division and Laboratory Head, WEHI

Expertise

  • cell death and signalling: expert in how cell death processes impact autoimmune disease and cancer
  • advanced technologies: uses new genetic, single-cell and advanced imaging technologies to address how the immune system makes decisions.

Professor Stephen Nutt

Laboratory head, WEHI

Expertise

  • epigenetics: specialist in understanding how gene networks control cell function in the immune system and targeting these processes with new therapeutic approaches
  • immunology, immunotherapy: world-leading expert in molecular immunology and immune cell processes
  • bioinformatics: leader in deciphering large scale genomics data to better understand the immune system.

Join our team

The centre is expected to employ more than 50 scientists, clinicians and staff within the first five years, supporting the next generation of talented researchers and uniting many minds from diverse fields to focus on immune health.

Visit our career opportunities page for current job listings.

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