Could we all have lifelong robust immunity? Dr Carolien van de Sandt, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne
Making proteins with AI: Dr Rhys Grinter, Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne
MELBOURNE – Two Australian scientists, Dr Carolien van de Sandt and Dr Rhys Grinter, have each been awarded CSL Centenary Fellowships, valued at $1.25 million over five years. Together, these fellowships represent a $2.5 million investment in pioneering health research.
Advancing lifelong immunity
Her research explores how, as we age, our T-cells become less effective at fighting acute viral infections and less flexible in responding to novel viruses. She will use her $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowship to study how children generate robust immunity, how healthy adults maintain optimal immunity, and how immunity becomes impaired in most older people and in certain other population groups.
She will investigate how our immunity develops and then declines:
- following viral infections including influenza A and B, COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), measles, smallpox, cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus;
- following vaccination.
She will also identify targets that could be used to restore our immune systems as we age.
Accelerating protein-drug development with AI
Rhys will use his $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowship to target a group of proteins that regulate a host of fundamental cellular processes and play a role in many diseases including cancer, metabolic dysregulation, heart disease, and infertility.
He hopes to develop a range of potential drugs to treat these diseases. His longer-term vision is to build and share a protein development capability that will fast-track drugs to patients.
Dr Michael Wilson, CSL Senior Vice President, Head of Research said, "Dr van de Sandt and Dr Grinter are both conducting fundamental research in their respective fields of immunology and drug discovery.
"With the support of the CSL Centenary Fellowships, their research will hopefully transform how we protect health and accelerate the development of essential new medicines.
"With today's announcement, CSL has provided $25 million to support 20 leading mid-career Australian researchers. The CSL Centenary Fellowships have given them funding stability to enable the delivery of innovations that could transform medicine for patients living with rare and serious diseases, and to protect public health."
The Fellowships were presented at the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Annual Meeting on Wednesday 29 October in Canberra.
About the CSL Centenary Fellowships
The Fellowships are competitively selected, high-value grants available to mid-career Australians who wish to continue a career in medical research in Australia.
They are open to medical researchers working on discovery or translational research with a focus on rare or serious diseases. They are overseen by a selection committee comprising three independent members and two CSL representatives.
The Fellowships were established to mark 100 years since the establishment of CSL in 1916. Two individual, five-year A$1.25 million fellowships have been awarded each year for 10 years.
