Prof Katherine Kedzierska is Deputy Head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity.  

Katherine received her PhD from Monash University in 2002 for her studies on the mechanisms underlying defective immune functions after HIV infection.  Her PhD work was recognised by the 2001 Premier’s Commendation for Medical Research, 2002 Monash University Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal and an NHMRC Peter Doherty Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her postdoctoral research with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty at University of Melbourne. Her postdoctoral work was focused on the early establishment of influenza-specific CD8+ T cell memory, TCR repertoire diversity and viral escape in a mouse model of influenza virus infection. In 2007, she got awarded an NHMRC RD Wright Fellowship and grant funding to establish her own research team.

She is currently an NHMRC Investigator Fellow and a group leader of ‘Human T cell Laboratory’ in Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of Melbourne. Her research interests include human T cell immunity to pandemic, seasonal and newly emerged respiratory viruses, anti-viral immunity in the young, the elderly and Indigenous Australians, viral escape and generation of immunological memory in human viral infection. She also studies human immunity to SARS-CoV2 infection and vaccination.

To date, Katherine has published 215 manuscript and received > $AUD 300 million in funding. She is a recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including 2016 Australian Academy of Science Jacque Miller Medal, 2011 NHMRC Excellence Award and 2011 Scopus Young Researcher of the Year Award. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Hokkaido University, Japan. In 2019, she was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (AAHMS).