Professor Stephen Kent

• Key Achievements
• Publications
• Projects
• Research Groups

• Key Achievements

  • Stephen has published over 190 scientific papers and is well recognised by his studies of T cell and antibody immunity to HIV and influenza. He has given over 100 invited talks and seminars on his research. Stephen has won multiple awards for his research and PhD supervision.

  Publications
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  Projects

  • Antibody dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) - a neglected anti-HIV immune response!

    The importance of HIV-specific Antibody-dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity (ADCC) antibodies that inhibit viral replication mediated through the Fc receptor is becoming clear. In view of the difficulty of inducing broad neutralising antibodies and effective T cell immunity, exploring HIV-specific ADCC is a priority. HIV-specific ADCC has been under-explored both from the point of view of rapid, reliable assays to measure and characterise ADCC responses and the ability to specifically induce high level HIV-specific ADCC antibodies by vaccination. Recent data from the RV144 vaccine study in Thailand suggest a role for non-neutralising antibodies in protection from HIV.

  • Combined Influenza-AIDS Vaccines

    Influenza and HIV are both serious global pathogens. Can a single vaccine be designed to cover both viruses? Recent advances in reverse genetic techniques allow insertion of foreign antigens into live influenza viruses. Further, live attenuated influenza vaccines are now highly effective vaccines. Stephen’s group is designing recombinant influenza vaccines with inserted HIV antigens to test as a combined Influenza-AIDS vaccine. An advantage of this strategy is that as a mucosal virus, there is a strong likelihood that immunity at mucosal surfaces, where HIV is first encountered, can be induced with this approach. 

  • Nanoparticle HIV vaccines

    No safe HIV vaccines have been able to stimulate durable, activated T-cell immunity. Stephen’s group is investigating an exciting HIV vaccination approach using hollow, submicron, delivery vehicles (nanocapsules) as carriers for HIV vaccines. This is a novel, cross-disciplinary project within the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Bio-Nano interactions. Nanocapsules are designed to induce optimal immune responses by protecting antigens from degradation prior to reaching sites of immune activation and activate antigen presenting cells in a way that will initiate anti-viral immune responses. Stephen’s group aims to use controlled-release nanocapsules to stimulate durable anti-HIV responses in vivo.

  • NKT cells, MAIT cells and HIV

    NKT cells are a small but very important lymphocyte population in blood that possess potent antiviral and antitumor activities. NKT cells are depleted during HIV infection. Stephen’s group are now devising strategies to enhance the biologic utility of NKT cells in fighting HIV. They are also starting to study an interesting population of cells called Mucosal-associated Invariant T cells (MAIT cells). MAIT cells are likely to be important in protecting HIV-infected people from damage at mucosal surfaces such as the gut.

  • Checkmating HIV - trapping immune escape HIV strains

    CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) can be effective at controlling HIV-1, but their utility is partly offset by mutational escape. The kinetics of CTL escape, and reversion of escape mutant viruses upon transmission to MHC-mismatched hosts can help understand CTL-mediated viral control and the fitness cost extracted by immune escape mutation. The work has implications for how best to control HIV during early infection.

  • Influenza – specific ADCC: role in a Universal Flu vaccine?

    Influenza mutates regularly to avoid neutralising antibodies. Immune responses targeting more conserved areas are needed to combat new flu pandemics. Stephen’s group have adapted and refined their HIV ADCC assays to study Influenza. They have found there is a remarkable degree of cross-reactivity in influenza ADCC immunity. They recently found that influenza ADCC can play a role in reducing the severity of the 2009 Swine Flu epidemic. The work opens up a whole new field of flu immunity. They are now studying how flu-specific ADCC can be induced by vaccination and lead to protective immunity.

  Research Groups

  • Kent Group

    Stephen’s group studies immunity to HIV and influenza. They are analysing a variety of vaccine strategies, including nanoparticle-based vaccines. They are studying a series of immune responses to gain better insights into protective immunity to important viral pathogens.

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    Lab Team

    

    • Dr Robert De Rose

      Senior Research Officer
    • Dr Marit Kramski

      Research Officer
    • Dr Wendy Winnall

      Research Officer
    • Dr Matt Parsons

      Research Officer
    • Dr Amy Chung

      Research Officer
    • Dr Adam Wheatley

      Research Officer
    • Sheilajen (Vinca) Alcantara

      Technical Assistant
    • Megan Schepers
    • Thakshila Amarasena

      Technical Assistant
    • Jane Batten
    • Shayarana Gooneratne

      Research Assistant
    • Joshua Glass

      PhD Student
    • Wen Shi Lee

      PhD Student
    • Vijaya Madhavi

      PhD Student
    • Fernanda Ana-Sosa Batiz

      PhD Student
    • Hyon-Xhi Tan

      PhD Student
    • Kevin John Selva

      PhD Student
    • Hillary Vanderven

      PhD Student
    • Matthew Worley

      PhD Student
    • Anne Kristensen

      MSc Student
    • William Lay

      3rd Undergraduate Student
    • Jennifer Juno

      Researcher
    • Kuangyu Fei

      Masters student
    • Hannah Kelly

      Research Assistant

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