Lab team

I lead a multidisciplinary, highly motivated team committed to elucidating the molecular and cellular basis of immunological tolerance. We collaborate closely with groups at the Institute, Monash University, Harvard Medical School, The University of Basel and the VIB (Belgium).

Dr Charis Teh, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, BSc, PhD ANU, MPH USyd

Project: Modulating FOXP3+ Treg cell homeostasis in health and disease

Key Publication: Teh, C.E., Lalaoui, N., Jain, R., Policheni, A.N., Heinlein, M., Alvarez-Diaz, S., Sheridan, J.M., Rieser, E., Deuser, S., Darding, M., Koay, H.-F., Hu, Y., Kupresanin, F., O'Reilly, L.A., Godfrey, D.I., Smyth, G.K., Bouillet, P., Strasser, A., Walczak, H., Silke, J., and Gray, D.H.D. Linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex coordinates late thymic T-cell differentiation and regulatory T-cell homeostasis. Nature Communications 2016; 7: 13353. Doi: 10.1038/ncomms13353.

Dr Lucille Rankin, Senior Research Officer

Project: Understanding the molecular pathways that underpin the generation and development Tregs in the gastrointestinal tract.

Key PublicationL Rankin LC, Artis D. Beyond Host Defense: Emerging Functions of the Immune System in Regulating Complex Tissue Physiology. Cell. 2018 Apr 19;173(3):554-567. PMID: 29677509 

Dr Alissa Robbins, Research Officer, BMedSci (Hons) UNSW, PhD UMelb

Project: Cell death mechanisms in T cell differentiation and homeostasis

Key Publication: Teh, C.E.*, Robbins, A.K.*, Henstridge, D.C., Dewson, G., Diepstraten, S.T., Kelly, G., Febbraio, M.A., Gabriel, S.S., O'Reilly, L.A., Strasser, A., and Gray, D.H.D. (* co-first authors) MCL-1 is essential for survival but dispensable for metabolic fitness of FOXP3(+) regulatory T cells. Cell Death and Differentiation. 2020 Jul 1. doi: 10.1038/s41418-020-0585-1.

Mengxiao Luo, PhD student, Masters (Biomedical Science) UMelb

Project: How apoptosis shapes cancer immune landscape and thymic T cell development.

Key Publication: Grohmann C, Walker F, Devlin M, Luo MX, Chüeh AC, Doherty J, Vaillant F, Ho GY, Wakefield MJ, Weeden CE, Kamili A, …, Lessene G. Preclinical small molecule WEHI-7326 overcomes drug resistance and elicits response in patient-derived xenograft models of human treatment-refractory tumors. Cell Death and Disease. 2021 Mar 12;12(3):268. doi: 10.1038/s41419-020-03269-0. PMID: 33712556

Kelin Zhao, PhD student, MSc UQld

Key PublicationL: Jain R., Zhao K., Sheridan J.M., Heinlein M., Kupresanin F., Abeysekera W., Hall C., Rickard J., Bouillet P., Walczak H., Strasser A., Silke J. and Gray D.H.D. Dual roles for LUBAC signaling in thymic epithelial cell development and survival. Cell Death and Differentiation, Aug 11 doi 10.1038/s41418-021-00850-8.

Ms Tania Tan, Research Assistant, BSc (Hons) UMelb

Project: Mass cytometric resolution of cell death mechanisms in blood cancers

Key Publication: Teh, C.E., Gong, J.N., Segal, D., Tan, T., Vandenberg, C.J., Fedele, P.L., Low, M.S.Y., Grigoriadis, G., Harrison, S.J., Strasser, A., Roberts, A.W., Huang, D.C.S., Nolan, G.P.*,#, Gray, D.H.D.*,#, and Ko, M.E*. Deep profiling of apoptotic pathways with mass cytometry identifies a synergistic drug combination for killing myeloma cells. (* co-senior author; # corresponding authors) Cell Death and Differentiation. 2020 Jul;27(7):2217-2233. doi: 10.1038/s41418-020-0498-z.