Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Associate Professor Meredith O'Keeffe is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Laboratory of Dendritic Cell Driven Immunity in Health and Disease. Meredith received her PhD from Monash University in 1998. She has spent the following 16 years investigating dendritic cell biology, with positions at WEHI, Melbourne, Bavarian-Nordic GmbH, Munich, Germany and the Burnet Institute, Melbourne. Meredith's current research interests include investigating the function of dendritic cells in Lupus disease and malaria infection and examining the development and function of dendritic cells in Myelodysplasia.
Dendritic cells are sentinels of the immune system that produce cytokines and interferons upon sensing danger. They are also professional antigen presenting cells, thereby connecting the innate and adaptive immune systems. Our laboratory investigates how pathogens and their products and/or or self-nucleic acids activate dendritic cells. We aim to decipher how this activation influences the function of dendritic cells. We investigate how this process may differ in different body locations, at different ages and in different disease settings. Major aims are to understand the role of dendritic cells in bone marrow malignancies and in autoimmune diseases such as Lupus.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- dendritic cells
- immunity
- cytokines
- interferons
- infection
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Non-canonical antigen sources for cross-strain protective influenza immunity
Illing, P. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), Braun, A. (Chief Investigator (CI)), Lahoud, M. (Associate Investigator (AI)), O'Keeffe, M. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Kedzierska, K. (Associate Investigator (AI)), Purcell, A. (Associate Investigator (AI)) & Mifsud, N. (Associate Investigator (AI))
1/01/24 → 31/12/27
Project: Research
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Deciphering novel cross-talk between innate cytokine receptors
O'Keeffe, M. (Primary Chief Investigator (PCI)), De Weerd, N. (Chief Investigator (CI)) & Hertzog, P. (Chief Investigator (CI))
Australian Research Council (ARC)
30/06/21 → 30/06/24
Project: Research
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Checkpoint receptors expressed by dendritic cells- do they play a role in immunotherapies?
Cancer Australia, Worldwide Cancer Research
1/02/20 → 30/11/23
Project: Research
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Using the power of cord blood stem cells to humanize mice for effective cancer immunotherapy research
Greenall, S., Watt, A., Ho, G., Segelov, E., O'Keeffe, M. & Jenkin, G.
1/01/20 → 31/12/21
Project: Research
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New generation live-cell imaging microscope (Leica DMi8)
Naderer, T., Lithgow, T., Traven, A., Kile, B., Li, J., Peleg, A., O'Keeffe, M., Heng, T. & Harper, I.
1/01/18 → 31/12/18
Project: Research
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A Simple and Rapid Protocol for the Isolation of Murine Bone Marrow Suitable for the Differentiation of Dendritic Cells
Song, R., Bafit, M., Tullett, K. M., Tan, P. S., Lahoud, M. H., O’Keeffe, M., Purcell, A. W. & Braun, A., Apr 2024, In: Methods and Protocols. 7, 2, 10 p., 20.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Type I interferons induce an epigenetically distinct memory B cell subset in chronic viral infection
Cooper, L. (Leading Author), Xu, H., Polmear, J., Kealy, L., Szeto, C., Pang, E. S., Gupta, M., Kirn, A., Taylor, J. J., Jackson, K. J. L., Broomfield, B. J., Nguyen, A., Gago da Graça, C., La Gruta, N., Utzschneider, D. T., Groom, J. R., Martelotto, L., Parish, I. A., O'Keeffe, M. & Scharer, C. D. & 2 others, , 14 May 2024, In: Immunity. 57, 5, p. 1037-1055.e6 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
8 Citations (Scopus) -
Helminth Infection−Induced Increase in Virtual Memory CD8 T Cells Is Transient, Driven by IL-15, and Absent in Aged Mice
Hussain, T., Nguyen, A., Daunt, C., Thiele, D., Pang, E. S., Li, J., Zaini, A., O’Keeffe, M., Zaph, C., Harris, N. L., Quinn, K. M. & La Gruta, N. L., 1 Feb 2023, In: Journal of Immunology. 210, 3, p. 297-309 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access5 Citations (Scopus) -
Pharmacological inhibition of TBK1/IKKε blunts immunopathology in a murine model of SARS-CoV-2 infection
Ullah, T. R. (Leading Author), Johansen, M. D. (Leading Author), Balka, K. R., Ambrose, R. L., Gearing, L. J., Roest, J., Vivian, J. P., Sapkota, S., Jayasekara, W. S. N., Wenholz, D. S., Aldilla, V. R., Zeng, J., Miemczyk, S., Nguyen, D. H., Hansbro, N. G., Venkatraman, R., Kang, J. H., Pang, E. S., Thomas, B. J. & Alharbi, A. S. & 13 others, , Dec 2023, In: Nature Communications. 14, 1, 13 p., 5666.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access8 Citations (Scopus) -
Termination of STING responses is mediated via ESCRT-dependent degradation
Balka, K. R., Venkatraman, R., Saunders, T. L., Shoppee, A., Pang, E. S., Magill, Z., Homman-Ludiye, J., Huang, C., Lane, R. M., York, H. M., Tan, P., Schittenhelm, R. B., Arumugam, S., Kile, B. T., O'Keeffe, M. & De Nardo, D., 15 Jun 2023, In: The EMBO Journal. 42, 12, 21 p., e112712.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access31 Citations (Scopus)
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Monash Antimicrobial Resistance Group (Event)
Lithgow, T. (Chair/Co-Chair), Cryle, M. (Member), Tuck, K. (Member), Traven, A. (Member), Naderer, T. (Member), Rood, J. (Member), Lyras, D. (Member), Peleg, A. (Member), Aguilar, M. (Member), Coulibaly, F. (Member), McGowan, S. (Member), Okeeffe, M. A. (Member), Belousoff, M. (Member) & Heraud, P. (Member)
1 Mar 2017 → 1 Jan 2019Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of industry collaboration/ network
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Immunology and Cell Biology (Journal)
Meredith O'Keeffe (Editorial board member)
2016 → Dec 2021Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility