ProfessorTania De Koning-Ward

I am a Professor in Molecular Microbiology within the School of Medicine and currently lead the Infection, Immunity and Cancer Theme within the Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation (IMPACT).

I obtained her PhD from the University of Melbourne and after two postdoctoral stints at Leiden University in The Netherlands, and at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne as a Howard Florey Repatriation Fellow, I established my own research group within the School of Medicine as the School was opening its doors to its first intake of medical students.

Within the School of Medicine and IMPACT, I lead a vibrant research team of postdocs, research assistants, PhD and Honours students, aimed at understanding how malaria parasites interact with their host cell so that they can thrive and cause disease. The overarching goal of my research program is to better understand how malaria parasites have become successful pathogens to inform rationale vaccine and therapeutic strategies to reduce the global burden of malaria.