Dr Jessica Da Gama Duarte obtained a PhD in Medical Biochemistry at the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 2015, where she developed a novel protein microarray-based tumour antigen array. She was recruited as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow by the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Australia in the Cancer Immunobiology Program to investigate the translational capacity of the array. In early 2025, she was recruited by Monash University, School of Translational Medicine, Australia as a new Laboratory Head and Senior Research Fellow.

Jessica was an invited speaker for the following:

• 2019 Lorne Cancer Conference
• 2019/2020/2021 Cure Cancer Research Symposium
• 2019 Melanoma Biomarker Symposium
• 2020/2021 VCCC emerging leaders in cancer research special event
• 2023 Tel Aviv University-Cancer Biology Research Centre/LTU-ONJCRI Cancer Collaborative Symposium (International)
• 2023 Australasian Melanoma Conference (International)
• 2023 Australian Spatial Day
• 2023 Northern's Brightest Stars Student Symposium
• 2024 Locoregionally Advanced Melanoma Symposium
• 2024 Illumination Tour
• 2024 Multi-Omics Conference (International)
• 2025 Asia Pacific Microscopy Congress (International)
• 2025 4th WEHI Spatial Technology Symposium. 

Jessica was a speaker selected from abstract for the following:

• 2016/2019 International Congresses of Immunology (International)
• 2019/2024 Australian B cell Dialogue Conferences
• 2019 Melbourne Immunotherapy Network Winter Symposium
• 2019 LIMS Fellows Research Symposium
• 2020 Eradicate Cancer Conference (International)
• 2021 VCCC Postdoc Symposium
• 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (International)
• 2023 Keystone Symposia: B Cells and Tertiary Lymphoid Structures - Emerging Targets in Cancer Therapeutics (International)

She is currently working on research projects that are aiming towards early detection of cancer onset and recurrence, prediction of immunotherapy benefit and/or toxicity, and understanding the role of B cells, antibody production, and Tertiary Lymphoid Structures in anti-tumour immunity.

She was the co-founder and chair of the ONJCRI Postdoctoral Committee (2017-2024), where she organised career-building events including the 2017 annual La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science (LIMS) Fellows Research Symposium, Grants Workshops, a Parental Leave in a Research Environment Workshop, the 2018/2019/2021/2022/2023 annual VCCC Postdoc Symposiums, the 2021 Cross-Institute Seminar Series, and the 2023/2024 Melbourne Emerging Leaders in Biomedical Research Symposiums. 
She was the ONJCRI officer liaison of the LIMS Fellows Society (2018), where she facilitated communication between researchers to foster new multidisciplinary collaborations. She was a member of the ONJCRI Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (2021-2025) focused on promoting and supporting a diverse workforce, and took part in the AAMRI deliberative panels focused on Sex and Gender in Medical Research (2023). Following from this, she recently joined the Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine (CSGEHM) Health and Social Research Working Group (2024-), and was an invited speaker and panellist for the VCCC International Women's Day 2025 - Respect in Research. She is a member of the Melanoma Research Victoria (MRV) Governance Committee (2021-) and was co-convenor for the 2022 MRV Mini-Symposium. She is a member of the Victorian Cancer Biobank Quality Control Working Group (2022-) and joined consultations for the Victorian Cancer Biobank Strategic Plan 2024-2028. She was recently appointed as a member of the Cure Cancer Scientific Engagement Group (2024-).
She has co-supervised 3 Honours students (2018 and 2019, all H1), 1 Masters student (2020-2021, H1: 87%), and 1 PhD student (2019-2023) to completion. She currently supervise 3 PhD students (2024-2027), including 1 clinician scientist, mentors 2 additional PhD students, and manages 2 Research Officers. She has produced educational content for the VCCC’s Master of Cancer Sciences course (2019). Based on her expertise, she has given invited technical seminars on protein microarray (Jomar Life Research Workshop, 2019; Sengenics Key Opinion Leader Webinar, 2023) and multispectral immunohistochemistry (Akoya Workshop, 2021/2023/2024) methodologies. 

Since in Australia, she has been a member of the VCA-funded MRV, which engages heavily with the community about research. Namely, she was an invited speaker for the 2016/2018 MRV Scientific exchange meetings, targeting local melanoma patients. Moreover, she was an invited speaker for the 2016/2017/2022/2023 MRV consumer reference group meetings, the 2019 ONJCRI Consumer advocate information evening, the 2019/2020 Tour de Cure Melbourne fundraising events, the 2020 Tour de Cure webinar series, the 2020 NSW Melanoma Institute Australia Patient Support group meeting, and the 2020/2021 MRV Consumer Training Days where she engaged directly with consumers about her research projects and interests. She was a Cure Cancer ambassador (2019-2021) at the 2019 Oz ComiCon event, the Solbari skin check campaign, the magic sunscreen children’s book promotion, and the 2021 Cuppa of Life 12 Days of Giving campaign. She was an invited speaker at the 2021 WorkSafe Victoria Health Seminar focused on Prostate Health, and at the 2023/2024 NBCF Pink Ribbon Breakfast Events (Kat the Label, Bellarine Women’s Network).
She volunteered as an ONJCRI ambassador, fundraiser, and runner at the 2016/ 2017/2018/2019 Wellness Walks and Research Runs, attended several consumer morning teas, was an invited speaker at the 2019 ONJCRI Consumer advocate information evening, organised the 2021/2023 Where Science Meets Art events, and the 2024 ONJCRI Day of Immunology Discovery tours.

Masters

PhD