Anti-viral immunity: NK cells, T cells and more

Anti-viral immunity: NK cells, T cells and more

Anti-viral immunity: NK cells, T cells and more (#45)

Mariapia Degli-Esposti ¹

Lions Eye Institute and University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Australia

Chronic viral infections are a major health and economic burden and the development of effective therapies to prevent and treat these infections is of the highest priority.

Efforts to improve the treatment and prevention of chronic viral infections, such as those elicited by HIV, hepatitis C virus and human cytomegalovirus require a better understanding of the responses needed to achieve optimal long-term control of these pathogens.

It is also worth noting that while the concept of harnessing the immune system to treat cancer has been around for almost a century, some of the most remarkable advances, such as the use of check-point inhibitors, have stemmed from understanding the regulation of immune responses during chronic viral infection. Thus, a better understanding of the immune responses to chronic viral infections will likely provide wide-reaching insights into improving health outcomes.

The innate and adaptive immune responses required to control chronic viral infection and the interactions required to balance protective anti-viral immunity with the risk of inappropriate, misdirected or dysregulated immune responses that can cause pathology will be discussed.

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Authors contributing to this presentation.

Degli-Esposti, M

Mariapia Degli-Esposti, PhD is a Professor at Monash University. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. At Monash University Mariapia heads the Experimental and Viral Immunology Group within the Infection and Immunity Program at the Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Department of Microbiology as a NHMRC Leadership Fellow. Mariapia’s laboratory studies viruses that cause lifelong infections as a way to unravel the pathways, interactions, and molecular mechanisms that determine the efficacy of immune responses. Her work has uncovered critical immunological pathways that shape immune efficacy and determine the outcomes of viral infection, including complications in autoimmunity and transplantation. Her research focuses on understanding the regulation of complex immune responses, especially those involved in autoimmunity, infection and tumour control. Her laboratory has elucidated novel interactions between components of the innate and adaptive immune system and how they affect the outcome of immune responses in the setting of infection and autoimmunity. These findings have been key to both basic and translational research aimed at developing improved therapies to treat viral infections and their complications by harnessing the immune system.

Anti-viral immunity: NK cells, T cells and more (#45)

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Degli-Esposti, M

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