A new era for global immunology

Diseases caused or worsened by a dysfunctional immune system pose one of the greatest health challenges in society, affecting millions of people worldwide.

These conditions range from rare, life-changing genetic immune deficiencies to debilitating chronic disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies and asthma.

There is no cure for any of these conditions.

Treatments are limited. Blanket approaches are common.

Collectively, these disorders are astonishingly common and are increasing in frequency globally.

Co-led by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, in partnership with the Snow Medical Research Foundation, we have established the Snow Centre for Immune Health to address these global health challenges.

The centre is funded by a landmark commitment of up to $100 million over 10 years – one of the largest philanthropic medical research partnerships in Australian history.

Despite decades of progress, many of the fundamental questions in immunology research remain unanswered. Solving these mysteries could transform human health.

At the Snow Centre, we’re tackling some of the biggest challenges in immunology.

• We want to decode the immune system’s decision-making process
• We’re searching for safe, effective ways to ‘wind down’ or switch off harmful immune responses to avoid and suppress autoimmune conditions 
• We’re working to manipulate and reverse the processes that drive allergies
• We’re aiming to identify an individual’s risks of developing immune-related disorders and correcting the root causes before disease develops.