Associate Professor Antiopi Varelias
Associate Professor Varelias's research aims to improve understanding of the pathophysiology of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), one of the major complications which occurs after stem cell transplantation. One area of interest has been to investigate the role of intestinal microbiota in acute GVHD development of the gastrointestinal tract and the influence of cytokines. More recently, understanding viral complications that often occur after transplant in immunocompromised patients has been another area of interest. With collaborators, Associate Professor Varelias's team have developed novel murine models of acute GVHD challenged with viral infections such as pneumonia virus of mice and cytomegalovirus.
Using these unique and complex preclinical models, together with innovative technologies, our research focuses on interrogating the interactions between pathogens (viral or bacterial) and host immune responses, specifically at mucosal sites, which lead to increased susceptibility to GVHD, respiratory disease and latent viral reactivation. The goal of Associate Professor Varelias's research is to identify new pathways for therapeutic intervention, validation of these using clinical samples and testing in clinical trials.