Professor Suresh Mahalingam

Director of CBMCS and NHMRC RD Wright Fellow (CDA2)

Viral Immunology, Inflammation, Emerging Infections

Phone: + 61 2 6201 2368
E-Mail: suresh.mahalingam@canberra.edu.au

Research Interests

• Pathogenesis of respiratory viral infections and the link to allergic airway disease (asthma)
• Dissecting the mechanisms of viral-mediated arthritis
• Discovery of a novel immune evasion strategy employed by viruses
• Identification of novel inflammatory genes associated with human diseases
• Modulation of immune response by antibody dependent enhancement of viral infection

Representative Publications

S. Mahalingam, G. Karupiah, K. Takeda, K. Matthaei and Paul S. Foster. Enhanced resistance in STAT6 deficient mice to infection with ectromelia virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2001, 98:6812-6817.

S. Mahalingam and B. Lidbury. Suppression of LPS-induced antiviral transcription factor (STAT1 and NF-kB) complexes by antibody-mediated enhancement of Ross River Virus in macrophages. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2002, 99:13819-13824.

B. Lidbury, N. Rulli, A. Suhrbier, P. Smith, A. Tarkowski, N. Van Rooijen, S. McColl, T. Cunningham, R. Fraser and S. Mahalingam. Macrophage-derived pro-inflammatory factors contribute to the development of arthritis and myositis following infection with an arthrogenic alphavirus. J. Infect. Dis. 2008, 197:1585-1593.

N. Rulli, A. Guglielmotti, A. Suhrbier and S. Mahalingam. Bindarit, an inhibitor of MCP-1 synthesis inhibits alphavirus-induced arthritis and myositis in a mouse model. Arthritis and Rheumatism 2008 (accepted for publication).

Book Title: Chemokines in Viral Infection Editor: Mahalingam S. Publication date: 2004. Publisher: Medical Intelligence Unit Series, Landes Biosciences Publishers, Austin, Texas. ISBN #: ISBN: 1-58706-043-4

Current Students

PhD

Andrew Zakhary. Development of antivirals against dengue virus.

Ali Zaid. Cytokine modulation by RNA viruses.

Jade Redfern. Immunobiology of infection with dengue virus derived from insect and mammalian host.

Sandy Thomas. Immune response induced by a novel vaccine adjuvant.

Dijana Townsend. Effect of Viral Infection on Eosinophil Biology.

Abbreviated CV

Employment History

1994-1998 Ph.D. Student (Australian National University).

1999-2000 Postdoctoral Fellow, Mucosal Immunology Group, University of Canberra

2000 Postdoctoral Fellow (Human Frontiers in Science Program), Allergy and Inflammation Group, JCSMR, ANU

2001- 2003 NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow/Research Fellow, Allergy and Inflammation Group, JCSMR, ANU.

2003-2004 NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow/Lecturer in Immunology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong.

2004 NHMRC R Douglas Wright Fellow/Senior Lecturer in Immunology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong.

2005-current NHMRC R Douglas Wright Fellow/Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences, University of Canberra

Academic Degrees

1999 Ph.D. (Medical Science-Virology/Immunology/Molecular Biology) (John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University).

1992 B.Sc. (Hons) in Clinical Biochemistry (Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia).

1998 Certificate in Graduate Teaching/Education (Graduate School of Advanced Education, Australian National University).

Prizes, Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards

2001 Science NOW Young scientist of the year

2002 & 3 Ministers Prize for Life Science (shortlisted finalist).

2003 NHMRC R. Douglas Wright Fellowship Award.

2004 Australian Young Tall Poppy Award

2005 UNSW Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, (one of three national finalists).

2007 The Australian Institute of Political Sciences Award for outstanding contribution to community teaching.