Suzanne Crowe

Other Appointments (current)

1989 - now Head, Pathogenesis and Clinical Research, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, Melbourne
1989 - now Head, Flow Cytometry Laboratory, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health
1992 - now Head, Clinical Research Laboratory, Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health
1994 - now Consultant Physician in Infectious Diseases and General Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
1999 - now Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases (Personal Chair), Monash University, Melbourne
2002 - now NHMRC Principal Research Fellow

Academic Background

1968-73 Medical Laboratory Scientist (Microbiology), Repatriation General Hospital, Heidelberg.
1980-83 Intern, Medical Resident, Medical Registrar, Senior Medical Registrar, Monash University Department of Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne
1984-85 Medical Registrar in Infectious Diseases, Fairfield Hospital, Melbourne
1986-88 Research Fellow in Infectious Diseases, University of California, San Francisco
1998 Sabbatical, Gladstone Institute, University of California, San Francisco

Previous Positions

1989-1995 Senior Lecturer, Monash University Department of Medicine
1989-1996 Sessional Senior Infectious Diseases Physician, Fairfield Hospital
1992-2003 Principal Investigator, National Centre in HIV Virology Research
1995-1999 Associate Professor, Monash University, Department of Medicine
1997-2003 Consultant Physician, Professorial General Medical Unit,Alfred Hospital

Patents and Commercial Development

Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2006905393 A method of diagnosis and kit therefore filed 28 September 2006 in the name of the Burnet Institute. Inventors: Anderson D, Crowe S, Landay, A and Lloyd, R.

Professional Membership

Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America
Member, Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases
Member, Australasian Society for HIV Medicine
Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Member, American Society of Microbiology
Member, Forum for Collaborative HIV Research

Awards

1977 - Jean C Tolhurst Memorial Prize for Microbiology
1979 - Mead-Johnson Prize for Paediatrics
1986 - Merck, Sharp and Dohme Travelling Scholarship
1986-88 Harkness Foundation Fellowship
1987 - International Award for AIDS Research (World Federation of Contraception/Health)
1988 - Beecham Research Award (Royal Australasian College of Physicians
1988 - Fogarty Travelling Fellowship (to attend IV Int Conf on AIDS), Stockholm
1989-93 Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship
1991 - Glaxo Award for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases
1993 - Society for Leukocyte Biology Award for International Advancement of the Science of AIDS
1994-96 Commonwealth AIDS Research Grants Career Award
1997 - Inaugural Award for Outstanding Past Pupil of Genazzano College
1997 - Royal Australian College of Physicians, The Macquarie Bank Travelling Fellowship.
2005 - Life time Achievement Award, 5th International Conference on AIDS, India
2006 - Inaugural Frank Fenner Award, Burnet Institute, Melbourne.

Role of Macrophages in HIV Pathogenesis
We are interested in the role of the CD16+ monocyte subset in the development of viral reservoirs in HIV infected persons. This subset is more susceptible to HIV infection than the majority of monocytes in peripheral blood. We are examining the transendothelial migration of HIV infected and uninfected monocytes to understand the establishment of viral reservoirs. We are also studying whether matrix metalloproteinase production is altered as a result of HIV infection and whether this contributes to altered permeability of tissue-endothelial barriers. Having demonstrated that macrophages are more susceptible to HIV infection than monocytes, we have been actively studying the effects of HIV on phagocytic capacity of macrophages, and mechanisms underlying the HIV-induced reduction in their function.

Low Cost Assays for Monitoring HIV Infection in Resource Constrained Settings
We are evaluating low cost CD4 (Dynal Dyna beads) and low cost viral load (Cavidi ExaVir) methods, as well as transferring these technologies into laboratories in resource constrained countries. We are developing a low cost, rapid, semi-quantitative CD4 test to be used in remote settings without laboratory access, for estimation of CD4 counts. We are studying dried blood spot and dried plasma spot assays for viral load and resistance measurement.