Katherine Kedzierska

Professor Katherine Kedzierska is the Head of the Human T cell Laboratory in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow Level B. Her principal area of expertise is viral immunology. She received her PhD from Monash University in 2002. Her PhD, performed at the Burnet Institute with Professor Suzanne Crowe, studied immunity to HIV infection and the mechanisms of disease pathogenicity. As an NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty, Katherine undertook research into the key mechanisms underlying immunological T cell memory formation and persistence. Subsequently, as an NHMRC RD Wright Fellow, then an NHMRC CDF2 Fellow, Katherine has established her independent research on universal immunity to human influenza viruses.

Katherine’s PhD work was recognised by the 2001 Premier’s Commendation for Medical Research, 2002 Monash University Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal and an NHMRC Peter Doherty Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her postdoctoral research with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty. In 2007, she was awarded an NHMRC RD Wright Fellowship and grant funding to establish her own research team. She is currently an NHMRC CDF2 Research Fellow and a group leader of the Human T cell Laboratory. Katherine was the recipient of the 2011 NHMRC Excellence Award and the Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Award and the 2016 Australian Academy of Science Jacques Miller Medal for Experimental Medicine. She is an Adjunct Professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, China and a Co-Director of the Sino-Australia Joint Research Laboratory for the Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Disease Research, Fudan-Melbourne University, located at the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre.