About
Associate Professor Andrii Slonchak obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology in 2010 from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics (Kyiv, Ukraine). In 2013 he joined the University of Queensland, where he completed his postdoctoral training in the RNA Virology Laboratory under the mentorship of Professor Alexander Khromykh. In 2023 he was awarded ARC Future Fellowship, and in 2025 appointed Team Head of the Systems Virology Laboratory at QIMR Berghofer.
Associate Professor Slonchak pioneered the use of human brain organoids to model viral neurovirulence and was among the first to apply single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to study virus–host interactions. His work on flaviviral noncoding RNA (sfRNA) highly advanced our understanding of flavivirus immune evasion and has been published in leading journals, including Nature Communications and Science Advances. Associate Professor Slonchak now leads cutting-edge research that utilises the power of innovative disease model systems, advanced transcriptomics, and systems biology to map cellular responses to arboviruses in vertebrate hosts and mosquito vectors. His team seeks to uncover viral strategies of immune evasion and translate these discoveries into novel antiviral therapeutic and disease prevention approaches.
Research Skills
- Flaviviruses
- Systems virology
- Single-cell sequencing
- Spatial transcriptomics
- Molecular virology
- Bioinformatics
- BSL3 viral pathogens
Area of Interest
- Arboviruses (Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, yellow fever viruses)
- Single cell and spatial transcriptomics
- Human tissue organoids as infection models
- Viral noncoding RNAs
- RNA biology and RNA vaccines
Professional Associations
- Associate Professor (Adjunct) | Queensland University of Technology
- Honorary Fellow | University of Queensland
- Member of Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre
- Member of Australasian Virology Society (Committee of management member)
- Member of American Society for Microbiology
Funding
- NHMRC Ideas Grant (2021272, $971,942). Dissecting the mechanisms of flavivirus neuro-pathogenesis using the systems biology approach;
- NHMRC Ideas Grant ($783,516). How the synergy between flavivirus protein and noncoding RNA defeats antiviral response;
- ARC Future Fellowship (FT230100465, $840,000). Why certain viruses don't get along in mosquitoes. The molecular mechanism;
- ARC Discovery Project Grant (DP240102506, $635,507). From shape to function: how structured RNA defines insect flaviviruses;
- 2019-2022 ARC Discovery Project Grant ($434,000). Noncoding RNAs of insect-specific flaviviruses: biogenesis and functions;
- Queensland Immunology Research Centre (QIRC) Seed grant (2025). Defining the immunopathology of Oropouche virus (OROV) in neuropathological models of neuroinvasion and vertical transmission.
- Australian Infectious Diseases Centre (AIDRC) UQ-QIMRB collaboration seed grant 2024). Harnessing the power of single-cell transcriptomics to understand the mechanism of flavivirus encephalitis. Australian Infectious Diseases Centre (AIDRC) UQ-QIMRB collaboration seed grant 2023). Mapping spatial gene expression in mosquitoes to understand viral transmission.