Immunity to SARS-CoV-2 post-vaccination and infection in people with rheumatic diseases

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic poses a continued threat to public health and well-being, especially in people who have a compromised immune system. People who have a rheumatic disease need to take lifelong immune suppression to reduce systemic or organ related inflammation and damage induced by their own immune systems. 

However, this comes at a cost as these immunosuppressive therapies target immune cell functions required for effective immune responses to infections and vaccination. 

The aim of this project is to profile the immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in people who live with a rheumatic disease. Participants will be recruited from Monash Health Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Vasculitis clinics. Cellular and serological responses will be measured at multiple time points before and post-vaccination using flow cytometric based assays, ELISA and neutralising antibody assays. Using clinical and laboratory datasets important immune profiles and correlates of protection will be identified.

Students will work within a multidisciplinary collaborative team of virologists, immunologists, infectious diseases physicians, rheumatologists, and nurses at Monash Health. There will be opportunities to coordinate the collection and processing of blood samples collected from study participants. 

Honours and PhD top-up scholarships are available.