After completing his PhD studies in synthetic chemistry at the University of Otago in 1995, Professor Gavin Painter took up a collaborative research project at the University of Cambridge involving phospholipids and cell signalling with the Babraham Institute. In 1999 he joined the Ferrier Research Institute at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington to continue his research into improving the potency and delivery of vaccines through the application of lipids and codelivery of vaccine components.
Professor Painter leads the Painter Laboratory. Through collaboration with the Hermans Laboratory the group has shown chemical conjugation of targeting moieties can improve adaptive immune responses leading to more efficacious vaccines. A current focus of the group is the nanoencapsulation of antigenic materials in lipid particles utilising microfluidics.
Publications
2022
Farrand K, Holz LE, Ferrer-Font L, Wilson MD, Ganley M, Minnell JJ, Tang CW, Painter GF, Heath WR, Hermans IF, Burn OK (2022). Using Full-Spectrum Flow Cytometry to Phenotype Memory T and NKT Cell Subsets with Optimized Tissue-Specific Preparation Protocols. Curr Protoc. 2(7):e482.
Burn OK, Farrand K, Pritchard T, Draper S, Tang CW, Mooney AH, Schmidt AJ, Yang SH, Williams GM, Brimble MA, Kandasamy M, Marshall AJ, Clarke K, Painter GF, Hermans IF, Weinkove R (2022). Glycolipid-peptide conjugate vaccines elicit CD8+ T-cell responses and prevent breast cancer metastasis. Clin Transl Immunology. 11(7):e1401
Prasit KK, Ferrer-Font L, Burn OK, Anderson RJ, Compton BJ, Schmidt AJ, Mayer JU, Chen CJ, Dasyam N, Ritchie DS, Godfrey DI, Mattarollo SR, Dundar PR, Painter GF, Hermans IF (2022). Intratumoural administration of an NKT cell agonist with CpG promotes NKT cell infiltration associated with an enhanced antitumour response and abscopal effect. Oncoimmunology. 11(1):2081009
Meijlink MA, Chua YC, Chan STS, Anderson RJ, Rosenberg MW, Cozijnsen A, Mollard V, McFadden GI, Draper SL, Holz LE, Hermans IF, Heath WR, Painter GF, Compton BJ (2022). 6″-Modifed α-GalCer-peptide conjugate vaccine candidates protect against liver-stage malaria. RSC Chem Biol. 3(5):551-560
2023
Cooney TR, Farrand K, Draper SL, Anderson RJ, Rendle PM, Hermans IF, Compton BJ, Painter GF. Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Peptide-Adjuvant Conjugate Vaccines with Increasing Antigen Content. Bioconjug Chem. 2023 Apr 6
Pankhurst TE, Buick KH, Lange JL, Marshall AJ, Button KR, Palmer OR, Farrand KJ, Montgomerie I, Bird TW, Mason NC, Kuang J, Compton BJ, Comoletti D, Salio M, Cerundolo V, Quiñones-Mateu ME, Painter GF, Hermans IF, Connor LM (2023). MAIT cells activate dendritic cells to promote TFH cell differentiation and induce humoral immunity. Cell Rep. 42(4):112310
Dasyam N, Sharples KJ, Barrow C, Huang Y, Bauer E, Mester B, Wood CE, Authier-Hall A, Dzhelali M, Ostapowicz T, Kumar R, Lowe J, Maxwell A, Burn OK, Williams GM, Carley SE, Caygill G, Jones J, Chan STS, Hinder VA, Macapagal J, McCusker M, Weinkove R, Brimble MA, Painter GF, Findlay MP, Dunbar PR, Gasser O, Hermans IF (2023). A randomised controlled trial of long NY-ESO-1 peptide-pulsed autologous dendritic cells with or without alpha-galactosylceramide in high-risk melanoma. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2023 Mar 7