Queensland COVID-19 research

This page of Queensland’s research related to the COVID-19 pandemic is compiled from information provided by Queensland universities and research institutes.

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2. Parent organisation (any) Australian Centre For Health Services Innovation (AusHSI) Bond University CQUniversity Griffith University James Cook University Mater Research QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute Queensland Health Queensland University of Technology The University of Queensland The University of Queensland, and The Prince Charles Hospital University of Southern Queensland University of Sunshine Coast University of the Sunshine Coast Wesley Medical Research
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• Harnessing Oxidised Cholesterols to Reverse Susceptibility to COVID-19 in Diabetes August 2021

  Diabetes increases susceptibility to and severity of bacterial and viral respiratory infections. A Mater Research group led by A/Prof Katharina Ronacher recently discovered that oxidised cholesterols play an important role in the immune response to tuberculosis in the lung. They are now investigating the role that oxidized cholesterols, so called oxysterols, play in the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 severity in presence and absence of diabetes. This study will significantly advance our knowledge in respiratory infection research by establishing the biological significance of oxidised cholesterols and the benefits of modulating oxysterol activity to improve respiratory infection outcomes.

  #Immunology

  Centre

  Mater Research Institute
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Katharina Ronacher
  Principal Research Fellow
  katharina.ronacher@mater.uq.edu.au
  +617 3443 7633

  Collaborations

  • Collaborators:
  • Dr Kirsty Short, The University of Queensland
  • Prof. Mette Marie Rosenkilde, The University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Prof. Thomas Mandrup-Poulsen, The University of Copenhagen, Denmark

• Understanding T cell mediated immune control of Sars-CoV-2 and the development of a cellular immunotherapy approach for COVID-19 May 2021

  Our research team is focused upon developing an understanding of immunodominant T cell responses to Sars-CoV-2 and using this knowledge as a platform to develop T cell based immunotherapy. Associate Professor Corey Smith, head of QIMR Berghofer’s Translational and Human Immunology Group, is leading the COVID-19 Immunity study, examining how the immune systems of those who have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 responded to the virus. QIMR Berghofer researchers have received a million dollar boost to further their understanding of COVID-19 immunology from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) as part of its Coronavirus Research Response.

  #Immunology

  Centre

  QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Corey Smith
  Team Head
  corey.smith@qimrberghofer.edu.au
  +617 3362 0313

  Collaborations

  • The University of Queensland
  • Monash University
  • Mater Research
  • Queensland Health

• Understanding immunity to COVID-19 May 2021

  Professor Denise Doolan at AITHM James Cook University is part of an Australian and international collaboration to understand immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and why individuals respond differently, and to develop diagnostics for COVID-19 suitable for rapid point-of-care measurement of immunity in low transmission and resource-poor areas.

  #Immunology#Diagnostics

  Centre

  Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine
  James Cook University

  Contact details

  Professor Denise Doolan
  Professorial Research Fellow
  Denise.Doolan@jcu.edu.au
  +617 4232 1492

  Collaborations

  • Prof Katherine Kedzierska, Peter Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne
  • Australian National University
  • Burnet Institute, Monash University
  • The University of Queensland

• High levels of a specific cytokines in COVID-19 severity suggest a divergence between anti-viral and pro-inflammatory T-cell responses May 2021

  This Queensland collaborative research project with several Chinese research institutes aimed to gain an understanding of the paradox of the immunity in COVID-19 patients with T cells showing both functional defects and hyperactivation and enhanced proliferation. By investigating COVID-19 patient samples and mouse models, this study demonstrates a divergent function of T cells in severe COVID-19 patients in which insufficient anti-viral immunity and pro-inflammatory T cell expansion contribute to disease severity.

  #Immunology

  Centre

  Diamantina Institute
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Prof Di Yu
  Professorial Research Fellow
  di.yu@uq.edu.au
  +614 2333 9898

  Collaborations

  • Collaborators:
  • Professor Min Xie and her team, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Tongji Hospital
  • Tongji Medical College
  • Huazhong University of Science and Technology

• Spatial mapping of COVID-19 infected tissues May 2021

  We used cutting-edge spatial mapping tools to identify and compare cells in the lungs of COVID-19 patients, to that of influenza and healthy tissue. This work has identified genes which are exclusive to COVID-19 and may be used to stratify disease severity early on.

  #Data science#Diagnostics#Immunology

  Centre

  Queensland University of Technology

  Contact details

  Dr Arutha Kulasinghe
  NHMRC Research Fellow
  arutha.kulasinghe@qut.edu.au
  +617 3138 6227

  Collaborations

  • Collaborators:
  • Dr Fernando Guimaraes Diamantina Institute
  • Prof Gabrielle Belz Diamantina Institute
  • Dr Kirsty Short School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
  • Prof Ken O’Byrne Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation, QUT
  • A/Prof Melissa Davis, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
  • Dr Chin Wee Tang, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

• Researchers develop direct-acting antiviral therapy to treat COVID-19 May 2021

  Scientists from Menzies Health Institute Queensland and City of Hope in the US have developed an experimental direct-acting antiviral for COVID-19. They used gene-silencing RNA technology - siRNA (small-interfering RNA) to attack the virus’s genome directly. This stops the virus from replicating and is delivers the siRNA to the lungs by lipid nanoparticles. This still experimental treatment was designed at Griffith University and City of Hope. The treatment reduces viral load by 99.9% and is designed to work on all betacoronaviruses such as the original SARS virus (SARS-CoV-1) as well as SARS-CoV-2 and any new variants that may arise in the future.

  #Immunology#Infection management

  Centre

  Menzies Health Institute Queensland
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Prof Nigel McMillan
  Program Director Infectious Diseases and Immunology
  n.mcmillan@griffith.edu.au
  +61 0413 730 894

  Collaborations

  • Collaborator: Beckman Research Institute - City of Hope USA
  • Funder: Medical Research Futures Fund - Australian Government