Lab team 

Enquiries from clinicians interested in entering medical research are encouraged.

My team at WEHI investigates cellular and molecular mechanisms of TB pathogenesis, by reverse translating our findings from clinical research conducted by my team at the Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa, at University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. 

We collaborate at WEHI with Professor Seth Masters, Associate Professor James Vince, Professor Marc Pellegrini and Dr Rebecca Feltham on infection models of cell death, Professor Melanie Bahlo and Associate Professor Matt Ritchie for bioinformatic analyses, and work closely with the Centre for Dynamic Imaging, Genomics and Proteomic Facility teams.

We have international collaborators to University College London, Imperial College London, Boston University, Rutgers University, Queen Mary’s University of London, Stellenbosch University and Institute Pasteur Madagascar.

At WEHI

George Ashdown, Human Frontiers Fellow, MRes Edinburgh, PhD King’s College London
Project: Mycobacterium tuberculosis modulation of host, elucidated by super-resolution imaging and proteomics

Kha Phan, collaborating Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc(Biotch & Cell Biol) La Trobe PhD La Trobe
Project: Boosting antibacterial immunity by inducing host cell death and disassembly
Poon Laboratory, La Trobe University

Dylan Sheerin, Postdoctoral Fellow, BA(Hons) Trinity College Dublin, MSc Trinity, DPhil Oxford
Project: Transcriptional signatures of TB risk and protection
Key publication: Sheerin D, Abhimanyu A, Wang X, Johnson WE, Coussens AK. Immunopathogenic Overlap and Shared Therapeutic Targets for Covid-19 and Tuberculosis Predicted from Transcriptomic Meta-Analysis. Cell Reports Medicine. 2021; Sneak peak

Aisha Amelia Resti, Master’s Student, MC-BMedSC Melbourne
Project: Heterogeneity in neutrophil extracellular traps and autoantibodies in COVID-19 severity risk

Catherine Chen, Honours Student, BBiomed Melbourne
Project: Investigation of autoantibodies and other co-morbidities as underlying mechanisms of a heterogenous COVID-19 prognosis
Co-Supervised by Dr Emily Eriksson, Population Health and Immunity division

Willian Vo, Honours Student, BBiomed Melbourne
Project: Host directed therapy for Tuberculosis and COVID-19 co-infection

At the University of Cape Town

Nashied Peton, Junior Research Fellow, BSc(Hons) UWC MSc Cape Town PhD Cape Town
Project: GBPs and inflammatory death in TB-HIV
Key publication: du Bruyn E, Peton N, Esmail H, Howlett PJ, Coussens AK, Wilkinson RJ. Recent progress in understanding immune activation in the pathogenesis in HIV-tuberculosis co-infection. Curr Opin HIV & AIDS. 2018 Nov;13(6):455-461 PMID: 30286038

Mthawelanga Ndengane, PhD Student, BSc (Hons) Western Cape MSc Western Cape
Project: Mtb lipids and HIV

Nomfudo Sibiya, PhD Student, BSc (Hons) Western Cape
Project: Biomarkers of Subclinical TB

Robyn Waters, PhD Student, BSc (Hons) Cape Town MSc Cape Town
Project: HIV-Mtb bone marrow reservoirs and VidiKids
Key publication: Waters R, Ndengane M, Abrahams MR, Diedrich CR, Wilkinson RJ, Coussens AK. The Mtb-HIV syndemic interaction: why treating M. tuberculosis infection may be crucial for HIV-1 eradication. Future Virol. 2020 Feb;15(2):101-125. doi: 10.2217/fvl-2019-0069. PMID: 32273900

At Stellenbosh University

Elouise Kroon, PhD Student, BM MBChB MBBS MD Stellenbosch
Project: Neutrophils in TB resistors
Key publication: Kroon EE, Coussens AK, Kinnear C, Orlova M, Möller M, Seeger A, Wilkinson RJ, Hoal EG, Schurr E. Neutrophils: Innate Effectors of TB Resistance? Front Immunol. 2018 Nov; 14;9:2637 PMID: 30487797