Hudson Seminar “When the immune system is on (nucleic) acid." Thursday 27 Oct

Thursday 27 October, 12-1 pm, Lecture Theatre 1, Monash Medical Centre.

Our speaker will be Dr Michael Gantier, Research Group head, Nucleic Acids and Innate Immunity, Hudson Institute of Medical Research.

Light refreshments to follow presentation outside the Lecture Theatre.

The central aim of Dr Michael Gantier’s research is to define how RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs) modulate immune responses, in both homeostatic conditions and following infection. After joining Professor Bryan Williams’ laboratory in 2006, Dr Gantier set out to investigate how endogenous and foreign small RNAs controlled innate immune responses. Building on technical expertise on small RNAs acquired during his PhD (University College Dublin, Ireland), he established this research theme in the Williams laboratory, and more broadly in Australia.

In 2015, following the award of an ARC Future Fellowship and several NHMRC project grants, he was promoted to lead his own research group in the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. The group’s research has important implications for our basic understanding of inflammation (which can lead to cancer), and the translational use of RNA therapeutics in the clinic.