SCIENCE AT THE SHINE DOME canberra 7 - 9 may 2008
New Fellows Seminar
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Professor William Heath
Deputy Head, Immunology Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
William Heath obtained his PhD in immunology from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne. He then undertook postdoctoral studies at Scripps Research Institute in the USA. In 1990, he received a Cancer Research Institute fellowship and returned to Australia to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Since 1993, he has received an Australian Research Fellowship; received the Burnet Prize from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute; was appointed senior research fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council; and promoted to senior principal research fellow. He has twice received International Research Scholar’s Awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Later this year he will take up an appointment as an Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne.
Controlling killer T cells, the assassins of the immune system
There are two main types of T cells: helper T cells and killer T cells. Killer T cells are the assassins of the immune system, responsible for killing cells that are infected with viruses. Killing infected cells prevents the growth of viruses, thus maintaining our health. On occasion, however, killer T cells mistakenly attack healthy parts of our body causing autoimmune diseases like diabetes. My studies have provided insight into how killer T cell responses can be orchestrated and how the immune system is able to reduce the potential for collateral damage. Work has shown that helper T cells provide crucial assistance in recruiting killer T cell armies. It has also revealed an important role played by a third cell type, the dendritic cell, in regulating responses by killer T cells. These studies have pioneered our understanding of the function of dendritic cells in generating protection against virus infections and in the prevention of autoimmune diseases like diabetes.
