Background

My work involves analyses of the microbiome within the female reproductive tract and the metabolites that they produce, with respect to their impact on sexually transmitted infections. I am also working toward the identification and characterisation of novel retroviruses in Australian mammals.

PhD Thesis
My thesis examined the antiviral defenses of bats, which are a significant source of viruses deadly to humans, and their history of infection with retroviruses. It identifies that bats have been host to a highly diverse range of retroviruses and finds that these viruses have been transmitted to other mammals. Bats are revealed to have unique features in their antiviral immune system that may give them an enhanced ability to control viral infections. This research was undertaken within the Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Research Laboratory, led by Assoc. Prof. Gilda Tachedjian.

Qualifications

• 2016: PhD in Molecular Microbiology, Monash University, Australia
• 2010: BScAdv(Hons), Monash University, Australia

Awards

• 2016: Harold Mitchell Foundation Travel Fellowship
• 2011: Ed Westaway Prize
• 2010: Monash Vice Chancellor’s Honours-PhD Scholarship
• 2009: Solly Faine Prize

Projects (6)

Current (4)

• Antimicrobial and immune modulatory effects of vaginal microbiota metabolites
  Determining the role of vaginal microbiota metabolites in inactivating HIV and other STIs, and their immune modulatory effects on cells found in the lower female reproductive tract .
• Burnet Microbiome Initiative
  Pilot study to characterise the vaginal microbiome in women from the HMHB cohort.
• Impact of a vaginal microbiota metabolite on epithelium integrity and HIV susceptibility
  Determining the role of a vaginal microbiota metabolite in enhancing the mucosal barrier to prevent HIV transmission.
• Intrinsic host antiviral activity against pathogenic viruses
  Determining the antiviral activity of bat restriction factors against viruses.

Past (2)

• Characterisation of retroviruses in a major viral reservoir
  To characterise the retroviral sequences found in the transcriptome of the bat.
• Discovery of intrinsic antiviral factors in a major viral reservoir
  Identify intrinsic antiviral factors in the Australian fruit bat to determine if they block human viral pathogens.

Publications (6)

2019 (1)

• Host and Viral Proteins Modulating Ebola and Marburg Virus Egress.
  Gordon TB, Hayward JA, Marsh GA, Baker ML, Tachedjian G
  Viruses. 2019 Jan; 11(1)

2018 (2)

• Anti-HIV-1 Activity of Lactic Acid in Human Cervicovaginal Fluid.
  Tyssen D, Wang YY, Hayward JA, Agius PA, DeLong K, Aldunate M, Ravel J, Moench TR, Cone RA, Tachedjian G
  mSphere. 2018 Jul; 3(4):e00055-18
• Differential evolution of antiretroviral restriction factors in pteropid bats as revealed by APOBEC3 gene complexity.
  Hayward JA, Tachedjian M, Cui J, Cheng AZ, Johnson A, Baker M, Harris RS, Wang LF, Tachedjian G
  Mol Biol Evol. 2018 Mar; 35(7):1626–1637

2016 (1)

• Increasing Prevalence of Synonymous Mutations K65K and K66K in HIV-1 subtype B reverse transcriptase.
  Telwatte S, Brumme CJ, Hearps AC, Latham CF, Hayward JA, Sonza S, Sluis-Cremer N, Harrigan PR, Tachedjian G
  AIDS. 2016 Sep; 30(18):2787-2793

2015 (1)

• Bats and Reverse Transcribing RNA and DNA Viruses (Book Chapter)
  Tachedjian G, Hayward JA, Cui J
  in Bats and Viruses: A New Frontier of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Editors LF Wang and C Cowled, Published by Wiley. 2015 Jul; Chapter 7 :177-202

2013 (1)

• Identification of diverse full-length endogenous betaretroviruses in megabats and microbats.
  Hayward JA, Tachedjian M, Cui J, Field H, Holmes EC, Wang LF, Tachedjian G
  Retrovirology. 2013 Mar; 10(1):35

News Articles (6)

2018 (4)

• Professor Tachedjian chairs session at AIDS 2018
• Burnet Travel Awards
• Burnet research reveals power of bats’ antiviral genes
• 2018 Day of Immunology

2015 (1)

• Burnet Travel Awards

2012 (1)

• Microbicides: enabling women to protect themselves against HIV