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About the lab

Our laboratory studies the molecules that govern the often-connected processes of cell death and inflammation. These processes normally protect against microbial infection, and allow tissue repair. Loss of control of cell death and inflammation underpins diseases such as sepsis, arthritis and cancer. Our goal is to understand how cell death and inflammation are controlled.

To this end we have made fundamental discoveries into cell death drivers of inflammation in cancer and infections that have led to high impact papers on this theme (e.g. Immunity 2012; Cell 2014; Blood 2014; Nature Comms 2015 & 21; Nature Micro 2016 & 17; Cell Reports 2017 & 18; PNAS 2017; Nature Immunol 2019; J. Immunol 2019; Immunity 2022; EMBO J 2023).

In partnership with Mermaid Bio, these discoveries are now informing our efforts to therapeutically target relevant cell death and inflammatory molecules using recent advances in lipid nanoparticle, mRNA, and nanobody technologies.

Our mission

Our lab’s vision is to make breakthrough discoveries into how cell death controls the inflammatory response, and then harness this knowledge to develop new therapies.

Impact

Our lab has defined the signaling pathways by which cell death regulates, and often drives, inflammasome-mediated immune responses, and has implicated these in relevant disease models. These have included studies related to bacterial infections (Nature Micro. 2106), gout (Journal of Immunology 2019), pathogen inflammatory responses (Cell Reports 2018; Nature Communications 2021), COVID-19 (Immunity 2022) and hereditary autoinflammatory diseases (Cell Reports 2017; EMBO J 2023). Our work has resulted in patents and collaborations with international biotechnology companies, such as Mermaid Bio GmbH and Tetralogic Pharmaceuticals.

Highlights

Members of the Vince lab at a rockclimbing facility

Lab research projects

Lab team

We strive to create an inclusive and collaborative lab environment where everyone, from undergraduate students to senior post-docs, has the freedom to ask questions and pursue the science they are passionate about.

Past members of our lab include undergraduate students who have gone on to undertake PhDs or teaching positions, PhD students who have completed post-docs abroad at world-leading institutes, and post-docs who have gone on to start their own laboratories or pursue careers in clinical practice.

We aim to perform the best science possible by forming deep collaborations with other groups with diverse expertise. These include labs within WEHI, such as those led by James Murphy, Edwin Hawkins, Ian Wicks, Rebecca Feltham, Joanna Groom, Sandra Nicholson, John Silke and Seth Masters (WEHI) and laboratories outside of WEHI from Monash Univeristy (Thomas Naderer, Ana Traven), The Hudson Institute (Kate Lawlor, Jaclyn Pearson), the Olivia Newton John Research Centre (Marco Herold), Tel Aviv University (Motti Gerlic), Freiberg University (Olaf Gross) and the Technical University of Munich (Monica Yabal).

In addition, studies are often conducted with biotech companies, such as Mermaid Bio., GSK and Tetralogic Pharmaceuticals, where we aim to exploit our discoveries through the application of new therapeutic molecules.

7 members
Siqi Chen
Visiting International Honours Student
Black and white photo of Farzaneh Shojaee
PhD Student
Jiyi Pang
PhD Student
Dr Kathryn Lawlor
Honorary Research Associate
Dr Hugh Ma
Research Officer
Dr Deepagan Veerasikku Gopal
Research Officer
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