Our Team
The Ageing and Immunotherapies Group at RMIT University is passionate about using our understanding of the basic biology of ageing and the immune system to develop more tailored immune-based therapies.
Dr Kylie Quinn
Group Leader and Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow
Dr Kylie Quinn is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at RMIT with extensive research experience in vaccines, immunotherapeutics, and ageing.
After a PhD in New Zealand on vaccine strategies for Tuberculosis, she took post-doctoral positions in Dr Robert Seder’s lab (2008-13; Vaccine Research Center, NIH), where she defined the mechanism of action for a number of novel vaccines and provided key pre-clinical data for Ebola vaccine selection by the World Health Organisation in 2014, and in Prof Nicole La Gruta’s lab (2013-18; University of Melbourne, Monash University), where she developed a project on how ageing limits the function of CD8 T cells.
Her group at RMIT focuses on developing ways to improve immune responses in the elderly during infection, vaccination and cell-based therapies. She also has a longstanding interest in issues around equity and diversity and is the Women’s Initiative Co-ordinator for the Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology (ASI).
Palak Mehta
PhD candidate
Palak Mehta is a PhD candidate and early career researcher with experience in clinical research.
She completed a Bachelors of Biomedical Science and a Masters of Clinical Immunology through Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She then worked for two years with Prof Graham Le Gros at New Zealand’s premier immunological research institution, the Malaghan Institute.
In 2020, Palak started her PhD project focused on identifying biomarkers that are predictive of protective responses during CAR T cell therapy in older people. She is co-supervised by A/Prof Anthony Jaworowski (RMIT), Prof David Ritchie (Royal Melbourne Hospital) and Dr Rachel Koldej (Royal Melbourne Hospital).
Shivali Savita Chinni
PhD candidate
Shivali Savita Chinni is a PhD candidate and early career researcher with a passion for cancer research.
She completed a Bachelors of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Laboratory Medicine through RMIT University, Australia.
In 2021, Chinni started her PhD project focused on developing a mouse model to dissect the impact of age on T cell function, CAR T cell therapy and vaccination. She is co-supervised by Dr Jonathan McQualter (RMIT).