Research Focus
The Systems Virology Laboratory investigates virus-host and virus-vector interactions at molecular, cellular and organism levels using a combination of advanced multi-omics techniques, bioinformatics, molecular virology and RNA structural biology. We utilise advanced model systems such as stem cell derived organoids to study viral pathogenesis and apply single-cell and spatial transcriptomics combined with computational modelling to map cellular responses to arboviruses and uncover viral strategies for immune evasion. We aim to identify regulatory pathways driving viral replication, transmission and pathogenesis that can be targeted for development of effective defence strategies against medically significant arboviruses like Dengue, Zika, West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses.
Research Projects
Current Research Projects
Dissecting the mechanisms of flavivirus neuro-pathogenesis using the systems biology approach.
Why certain viruses don't get along in mosquitoes?
Noncoding RNAs of insect-specific flaviviruses: biogenesis and functions.
Research Team
Dr Michael Leitner
Dr Carla Vieira
Jia Xiang Justin Chan
Ziyao Zhao
Funding
- NHMRC Ideas Grant (2021272). Dissecting the mechanisms of flavivirus neuro-pathogenesis using the systems biology approach.
- ARC Discovery Project Grant (DP240102506). From shape to function: how structured RNA defines insect flaviviruses.
- Queensland Immunology Research Centre Seed Grant. Defining the immunopathology of Oropouche virus (OROV) in neuropathological models of neuroinvasion and vertical transmission.
Publications
Further Information
- Professor Alexander Khromykh (School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, UQ)
- Professor Ernst Wolvetang (Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, UQ)
- Professor Eva Harris (University of Berkeley, California, U.S.A.)
- Professor Jill Carr (Flinders University, SA)
- Associate Professor Jody Hobson-Peters (School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, UQ)
- Dr Larisa Labzin (Institute of Molecular Biology, UQ)