Virology Otago Research Theme Members

Christchurch

Prof Dave Murdoch
Medical Director, Microbiology, Canterbury District Health Laboratories (more...)

Interests include pneumonia, legionella infection, molecular diagnostic testing, parasitology, travel medicine, and high altitude medicine. David is Head of Pathology at Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Dr Lance Jennings
Christchurch School of Medicine & Health Sciences-Virology (more...)

Investigation of human respiratory disease; Development of molecular tests for infectious disease diagnosis; Clinical and human volunteer trialing of antivirals against Hepatitis C and respiratory viral infections; immunisation, treatment and other strategies to control influenza.

Dunedin

Dr Heather Brooks
Microbiology (more..)
Miicrolink, a Microbiology consulting service linking the University of Otago with industry.
This includes laboratory diagnosis of Herpes simplex virus infection for Southern Community Laboratories.

Dr Chris Brown
Biochemistry (more...)
Analysis of viral genomes and protein translation mechanisms of viruses with the aim of generating new drugs to control human disease. Hepatitis B virus. Bioinformatics. Genomics.

Dr Jim Faed
Pathology (more...)
Viruses relevant to blood transfusion practice. Clinical haemostasis. Blood donor selection and retention

Prof Antony Braithwaite
Pathology (more...)

Cell Biology/Apoptosis, tumour suppression, p53

Dr Steve Fleming
Virus Research Unit, Microbiology (more...)
Molecular biology of parapoxviruses. Understanding host-virus interactions and virus structure as a basis for making recombinant viral vaccines and targeting factors to specific tissues. Investigation of viral encoded factors that determine virulence.

Dr Peter Fineran
Microbiology (more...)

Associate Professor Paul Guy
Botany (more...)
Pure and applied aspects of plant virus ecology, molecular biology and biotechnology including their effects upon plants both as plant pathogens of crops and as invaders of native ecosystems. Host responses to plant virus infection.

Dr.Merilyn Hibma
Virus Research Unit, Microbiology (more...)
DNA tumour viruses: understanding their role in cancer. Determining the characteristics of the immune response to these viruses and how they may evade host immunity. Developing vaccines to control their associated cancers.

Assoc Prof James Kalmakoff
Microbiology
Viruses for the biological control of pests. Molecular biology of insect iridovirus replication, including apoptosis inhibitors and inteins. Maintain a worldwide reference collection of iridoviruses for phylogenetic classification.

Prof Kurt Krause
Biochemistry (more...)
HIV antivirals

Professor Andy Mercer
Virus Research Unit, Microbiology (more...)
Analysis of viral virulence, vaccines and vectors using orf virus. Current work focuses on the development of subunit vaccines, the characterisation of virus-encoded factors which modify the host response to infection, and the development of orf virus as a delivery system.

Dr Janice Royds
Dunedin School of Medicine (more...)

Developing novel disgnostic markers and treatments for cancer, Characterising a novel anti-angiogenesis drug for use in anti-angiogenic therapy, Oncogenes and oncoviruses, Selective targeting of tumour cells, Biomarkers for distinguishing between glioblastomas

Dr Elizabeth Poole
Biochemistry (more...)
Recoding in HIV as a target for antivirals.

Associate Professor Vernon Ward
Microbiology (more...)
Noroviruses. Molecular invertebrate virology. Host-pathogen relationship of the baculovirus Epiphyas postvittana NPV. Insect RNA virus replication, capsid protein processing and assembly. Detection of mosquito-borne disease in New Zealand.

Professor Warren Tate
Biochemistry (more...)
From our chance discovery in the 1980s of recoding (frameshifting; a cellular mechanism for regulating gene expression during protein synthesis), we developed an interest in the frameshift mechanism of HIV-1 as a potential site of vulnerability in the virus. Now, our interest has extended to the only gene in the animal kingdom known to use this mechanism, human gene PEG10.

Dr Antje van der linden
Pathology, Dunedin School of Medicine (more...)

Microbiology, virology and Infection controL

Wellington

Dr Richard Hall

Institute of Environmental Science and Research (more...)

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