Professor Katherine Kedzierska’s work made key contributions to our understanding of immune responses towards emerging and reemerging viral infections, including pandemic, avian and seasonal influenza viruses, and SARS-CoV-2. Her studies identified host factors underpinning life threatening respiratory viral diseases, and determined immune perturbations in high-risk populations, including children, older adults, pregnant women, patients with co-morbidities and First Nations people. Kedzierska’s work defined novel and broadly cross-reactive Tcell responses capable of mediating universal long-lived immunity across distinct viral variants, and unravelled integrated immune networks underpinning recovery from viral infections. Kedzierska’s Team was at the forefront of research on immunity to pandemic H1N1 influenza in 2009, novel avian H7N9 influenza in 2013 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
About the speaker: Prof Katherine Kedzierska is Deputy Head of Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of Melbourne and Peter Doherty Institute. She is also a NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Laboratory Head. Her research interests include human T cell immunity to pandemic, seasonal and newly emerged respiratory viruses, anti-viral immunity in the young, the elderly, pregnant women and Indigenous Australians, viral escape and generation of immunological memory in human viral infection. She also studies human immunity to SARS-CoV2 infection and vaccination. To date, Katherine has published 276 manuscripts, cited collectively >24,500 times; her h-index is 81. She is a recipient of prestigious awards, including 2023 Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases, 2016 Australian Academy of Science Jacque Miller Medal, 2011 NHMRC Excellence Award and 2011 Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Award. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Hokkaido University, Japan. In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (AAHMS).
Tuesday 21 April 2026
12.oopm
ACMD Auditorium
L1 27 Victoria Parade Fitzroy
