The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

EDUCATION

Research Projects

Project: Immune responses to the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori

Liaskos Group

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram negative bacterium that infects more than 3 billion people worldwide, causing a spectrum of diseases ranging from gastritis, to gastric ulcers and gastric cancer. H. pylori manipulates the host’s immune system into mounting an ineffective, chronic and mildly inflammatory immune response, to promote lifelong infection of the host. The exact mechanism(s) whereby H. pylori manipulates the host immune system to facilitate chronic H. pylori colonisation remain unknown. This project will examine the mechanisms whereby H. pylori and their products manipulates the human immune system to promote pathogenesis. This project involves a variety of microbiology, immunology and imaging based techniques.

Contact project supervisor for further
information and application enquiries

Project Supervisor

Associate Professor Maria Liaskos

Project availability
PhD/MPhil
Master of Biomedical Science
Honours

Liaskos Group

maria.liaskos@unimelb.edu.au

2 vacancies

Themes
Immunology
Antimicrobial Resistance
Bacterial and Parasitic Infections
Cross Cutting Disciplines
Discovery Research

The Liaskos group is primarily focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen interactions, with particular focus on bacterial pathogens and bacterial membrane vesicles. We use a range of microbiology and immunology-based techniques to examine how bacterial pathogens that infect humans cause disease, and how the host detects and responds to these pathogens and their products.


Liaskos Group Current Projects