Kenneth W Beagley

Traditional vaccine approaches have been unsuccessful in preventing chlamydial infections. Prof. Beagley and colleagues are researching novel DNA vaccination and bioinformatics approaches to identify protective chlamydial antigens that are conserved across several chlamydial species. Using combinations of these antigens we can reduce both the duration and magnitude of infection and reduce infection-associated inflammation that is the cause of infertility in animal models of chlamydial infection. We are now working with collaborators in the US and a major vaccine company to develop a human Chlamydia vaccine. We have also used these antigens to develop the world’s first Chlamydia vaccine for the koala. This vaccine has been shown to protect young koalas in a wild population with a high incidence of chlamydial infection and disease and has increased reproductive success in this population. The vaccine is currently undergoing registration.

Neisseria gonorrhea is another human STI and is a disease of increasing concern due to antibiotic resistance. We have established a new mouse model of Neisseria infection in male mice and have shown that infection adversely affects sperm production similar to what we find with Chlamydia infection. We are currently using this model to further investigate the effects of Neisseria infection on male fertility and for development of vaccines to prevent infections.

Prof. Beagley is a past-president of the International Society for Mucosal Immunology and is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, the American Association of Immunologists, the Society for Reproductive Biology, the American Society for Reproductive Immunology, the International Society for Vaccines and the International Society for Immunology of Reproduction.