Skip to Navigation Skip to Content Skip to Footer

Microbiology Logo Microbiology & Immunology
Te Tari Moromoroiti me te Ārai Mate

Latest News and Events


Dr Jemma Geoghegan receives $600,000 grant to track COVID-19 spread and evolution in NZ

Posted by on 29 May 2020 | Comments

A collaboration between Otago and ESR has received a substantial government grant to lead an international team of scientists to sequence the genomes of all of New Zealand’s positive COVID-19 cases and track how the virus spread across New Zealand. Dr Jemma Geoghegan has been allocated $600,000 from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) COVID-19 Innovation Acceleration Fund.

comment(s) | Read the full post

Congratulations Lucía Malone!

Posted by on 25 May 2020 | Comments

Another reason for the phantastic Lucía Malone (Fineran Lab) to be smiling. Her PhD thesis has been put on the Health Sciences Divisional List of Exceptional Theses. Lucía Malone, a PhD candidate in the Fineran Lab, recently handed in her PhD thesis titled, "Phage interactions with CRISPR-Cas systems in Serratia sp. ATCC 39006. Congratulations Lucía! We are very proud. 

comment(s) | Read the full post

Could BCG, a 100-year-old vaccine for tuberculosis, protect against coronavirus? - Jo Kirman

Posted by on 20 May 2020 | Comments

Associate Professor Jo Kirman co-wrote Otago's most read article in the last year. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will donate A$10 million to help fund an Australian trial testing whether a very old vaccine, BCG, can be used against a new threat, COVID-19. So what is the BCG vaccine and what might its place be in the fight against coronavirus?

comment(s) | Read the full post

Congratulations Roslyn Kemp and Alex McLellan

Posted by on 18 May 2020 | Comments

E whakahīhī nei mātou ki a koe! Department of Microbiology and Immunology Researchers have received HRC explorer Grants. Professor Alex McLellan has received a $150,000 HRC Explorer Grant: "Fighting splicing with splicing: New strategies for CAR T cell immunotherapy". Dr Lyn Wise and Associate Professor Roslyn Kemp have received a $150,000 HRC Explorer Grant: "Resurrection of an anti-inflammatory therapy through protein engineering".

comment(s) | Read the full post

Viruses are a national security issue, and we need a budget to fight them. - Dr Matloob Husain

Posted by on 1 May 2020 | Comments

Every country in the world needs to treat #COVID19 as a national security issue, and allocate a budget for virus research and development that is similar to a defence budget"Check out this fantastic science communication piece by Dr Matloob Husain from the Department, where he emphasizes the need for preparedness around potential virus spillover from animals.

comment(s) | Read the full post