The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

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

Malaysia

HIV Persistence and antigen-specific immunity: The HIV Hygiene Hypothesis

Lewin group
Project leader(s): Professor Sharon Lewin
Collaborator(s): University of Malaya

A collaboration between Professor Lewin's laboratory at the Doherty Institute and Doctor Reena Rajasuriar at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.

Bioinformatics workshop

WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
Project leader(s): Dr Yi-Mo Deng
Collaborator(s): National Public Health Laboratory, Malaysia

Training workshop for bioinformatics and data analysis of influenza viruses. 

NAPS international implementation

National Centre for Antimicrobial Stewardship
Project Leader(s): Professor Kirsty BuisingProfessor Karin Thursky and Dr Rodney James
Collaborators(s): University Malaya Medical Centre, Malaysia
Funding: US Joint Commission

International implementation of the Australian National Antimicrobial Prescribing Survey.

Towards a functional cure for HBV: exploiting lessons from HBV-HIV co-infection

Doherty Department
Group leader(s): Associate Professor Joe SasadeuszDr Jennifer Audsley
Collaborator(s): Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection can be treated, but therapy is usually lifelong and has side effects, so a cure for HBV is very important. We work closely with colleagues in Asia where both HBV and HIV are common so this provides a unique opportunity to study HBV. We will investigate how an effective immune response against the 2 main HBV proteins is developed. If we can understand how the immune response works against HBV, this could be used to develop new therapies to develop a cure for HBV.

WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis
Project leader(s): Professor Benjamin Cowie
Collaborator(s): World Health Organisation

The WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis performs a broad range of activities supporting national and global control of viral hepatitis, including basic research, reference virology and diagnostics, surveillance strengthening and evaluation, treatment and prevention initiatives, situational analysis, and training and regional capacity building. In addition, the Centre is active in public health policy development and assists WHO in developing and reviewing technical guidelines and operational plans across the region.

In conjunction with the designation as a WHO Regional Reference Laboratory for Hepatitis B in 2010, the Centre assists the WHO and Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) with advice and support for approaches to the prevention and management of viral hepatitis, and provides technical support on laboratory diagnostics.

The Centre also enables the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) and the Doherty Institute to extend the scope and geographic reach of their research, training and regional capacity building activities related to viral hepatitis.