ASI NSW ACT Joint Branch Meeting 2025

A/Prof Julia Ellyard (Australian National University)
A/Prof Julia Ellyard leads the Autoimmunity and Cell Signalling Group at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University. She completed a BSc (Honours) at University of Sydney, and a PhD with Professor Chris Parish at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University. Post-PhD, she was awarded a NHMRC Overseas Biomedical Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral training with Professor Michael Neuberger at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK on the regulation of antibody class-switching, before returning to JCSMR to work with Professor Carola Vinuesa on the development of antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases. In 2014, she received a Judith Whitworth Fellowship to continue her research as a team leader in the Centre for Personalised Immunology investigating genetic causes of lupus. In 2022 she established her own research group with a focus on understanding how genetic variants affect immune cell function to break tolerance and cause autoimmune diseases. She is particularly interested in the role dysregulated cytokines, cytokine signalling and nucleic acid sensing play in the development of autoimmunity and how these pathways are regulated. A/Prof Ellyard is also a passionate educator and has a strong commitment to undergraduate teaching and training the next generation of medical researchers.

Prof Matt Sweet (Institute of Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland)
Matt Sweet is a Group Leader and Director of Higher Degree Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He is also a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) Leadership Fellow. Matt’s research group is interested in developing novel anti-infective and anti-inflammatory approaches through a detailed understanding of the molecular processes that control macrophage functions and innate immunity, particularly in the context of immunometabolism.

Dr Vanessa Bryant (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research)
Dr. Vanessa Bryant is a medical researcher, Lab Head at WEHI, and Clinical Scientist at RMH. As Deputy Scientific Director of the Snow Centre for Immune Health, she leads research programs using functional immunology and genomics to understand immune dysfunction. Her work has uncovered new disease-causing genes for rare antibody deficiency disorders and expanded our understanding of inborn errors of immunity. Vanessa also co-leads the Alliance for Indigenous Genomics and the Australian ImmunoGenomics Alliance, MRFF-funded national initiatives aimed at improving diagnostic rates and ensuring equitable access to genomic testing for people with rare and complex immune diseases.

Prof Ronald Sluyter (University of Wollongong)
Prof. Ronald Sluyter leads the Immunology and Cell Signalling Group in the School of Science and the Molecular Horizons Research Institute at the University of Wollongong. Ronald completed his PhD in 1999 under the supervision of Prof. Gary Halliday at the University of Sydney, where he studied the skin immune system. From 2000, he was a Research Fellow in the laboratory of the late Prof. James Wiley at the Nepean Hospital, Penrith, where he researched the roles of the purinergic receptor P2X7 in blood and skin cells. Since 2008, he has held an academic position at the University of Wollongong. His research has made significant contributions regarding the roles of P2X7 and other purinergic molecules, including their polymorphic variants, in human and veterinary health and medicine.