Students
For New Zealand to remain at the forefront of scientific research we require a continuous flow of new, well-trained scientists. At the Malaghan Institute we know that our success is dependent on the calibre of the people who do their research here. For this reason, the Malaghan Institute has always had an active commitment to education. We wish to foster the development of new scientists and to expose students to the most recent advances in immunology and related topics. To that end, we actively sponsor programmes for doctoral candidates and also provide special opportunities for selected students early in their academic training. We are investing in improving human health by investing in our brightest people and giving them the opportunity to use their skills here in New Zealand.
PhD Students
Haley Ataera (BSc, MSc) "Designing strategies to improve the T cell mediated immunotherapy of mouse tumours"
Lisa Connor (BBmedSc(Hons)) "Dissecting the long-term memory response against Tuberculosis"
Emma Dangerfield (BBmedSc(Hons)) "The synthesis of modified carbohydrates for the treatment of disease"
Nina Dickgreber (DipSci) "Improving vaccines with adjuvants that stimulate NKT cells"
Marina Harvie (BSc(Hons)) "Timing and tissue distribution of allergen specific Th2 cells"
Ashna Khan (BSc, MSc) "Mycobacterium tuberculosis - hijacker of the immune system"
Joel Zhi-Iong Ma (BSc(Hons)) "Regulation of CD4+ T helper responses by CD8+ T cells"
Willy-John Martin (BSc, MSc(Hons)) "The role of macrophages in gouty arthritis"
Helen Mearns (BSc, BSc(Med)(Hons), MSc(Med)) "Role of novel cytokines involved in IL-4 independent Th2 differentiation"
Dianne Sika-Paotonu (BSc, BBmedSc, MBmedSc(Hons)) "Increasing the potency of dendritic-cell based vaccines for the treatment of cancer"
Helen Simkins (BSc(Hons)) "Immune responses in perforin deficient mice"
Clare Slaney (BSc, MSc(Hons)) "The use of immunosuppressive cells to inhibit EAE"
The Malaghan Institute is proud to support three Clinical Research Fellows in their PhD studies.
Dr Peter Ferguson (MBChB) "Magnetic nanoparticles as MRI contrast agents"
Dr Rebecca Grainger (BMedSci(Distinc), MBChB(Distinc), FRACP) "Immune inflammation in neutrophilic disease - a study of gouty arthritis"
Dr Robert Weinkove (MA(Hons), MBBS(Hons), MRCPath) "Invariant natural killer T cells in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia"
The following students had their theses accepted and were awarded their Doctorates in 2008:
Rachel Perret (BSc(Hons)) "Memory T cells develop from an in vitro-activated effector T cell population and can protect against tumours in vivo"
Kylie Quinn (BSc(Hons)) "Development of a novel DNA vaccine to prevent Tuberculosis disease"
Masters Students
Kasper Eckert (BSc) "Worms and Germs: Do helminth infections impair the efficacy of the tuberculosis vaccine BCG?"
Tommy Liu (BSc, Grad dip BBmedSc) "The role of monocytes in gouty arthritis"
Aras Toker (BSc) "Targeting antigen presenting cells to treat autoimmune inflammation"
Anna Win (BSc(Hons)) "Azasugars for the treatment of Tuberculosis"
Honours Students
Janice Cheng (BMedSci) "Glycolipids as adjuvants for anti-cancer immunotherapy"
Gregory Haslett (BSc) "The molecular triggers of asthma"
Hannah Kelly (BMedSci) "Immunogenicity and protective capacity of DNA vaccines encoding tuberculosis latency antigens"
Visiting Students
Stefanie Steiger (DipSci) "Do activated macrophages phagocytose apoptotic neutrophils?"
Antonia Richter (BSc, MSc) "The role(s) of perforin- and Fas ligand- mediated cytotoxicity in the elminiation of dendritic cells"
Summer Students
Each year, the Malaghan Institute hosts summer interns who have an interest in science, and are of the calibre to take on and benefit from an assigned research project at the Institute. Working with close direction from the Institute staff, they are able to conduct meaningful work and learn what a career in research offers. Over the summer of 2008/09, we fostered the following students:
Henry Hudson (BMedSci (3rd year)) "Effect of different cations on immune responses to urate crystals"
Neal Kerr (BSc (3rd year), MBChB (3rd year)) "The effect of high uric acid on MSU induced superoxide production by human neutrophils"
Taryn Osmond (BBmedSc) "Stress-related gene expression in cancer cells and immune cells"
Catherine Plunkett (BMedSci) "Imino sugars as inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis - synthesis and biological evaluation of a new class of Mycobacterial arabinan biosynthesis inhibitors"
Sarrabeth Stone (BBmedSc)
