Background

Brianna has been based at the Burnet Institute since 2018, where she first completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours), with her research project titled ‘the antiviral activity of bat APOBEC3 proteins'. Following the completion of her Honours she worked jointly as a research assistant with the Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Laboratory and the Viral Entry and Vaccines Laboratory.

Brianna commenced her PhD in 2020 at the Burnet through Monash University. She is interested in the prevention of diseases that are endemic in developing nations such as HIV, through combining her areas of interest in microbiology, immunology and international development. Her project is titled ‘the impact of the vaginal environment on epithelial barrier function and HIV susceptibility'. This project aims to determine the impact of the vaginal environment on epithelial barrier function and the implications for HIV susceptibility by investigating the modulation of signalling pathways, gene expression and protein production by estrogen and metabolic products of commensal bacteria in the female reproductive tract.

Qualifications

• 2018: Bachelor of Science (Honours), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• 2017: Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts (Global), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Appointments

• 2022: Student Representative, Burnet Institute

Positions

• 2019: Research Assistant, Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Laboratory and the Viral Entry and Vaccines Laboratory, Burnet Institute, Melbourne.