Dr Theresa Pankhurst
Te Urungi Research Fellow
Dr Theresa Pankhurst (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou) completed her PhD with Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington under the supervision of Dr Lisa Connor in 2021. Her thesis investigated the potential for innate-like T-cells residing in the lung to be harnessed as adjuvants in mucosal vaccines.
Following her PhD Theresa joined Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa NZ – Ohu Kaupare Huaketo working as a postdoctoral researcher within the vaccine evaluation team that designed and tested a preclinically efficacious COVID-19 booster vaccine.
During this time she became the inaugural recipient of Te Urungi Churchill College By-Fellowship that supported her to incorporate aspects of Te Ao Māori into her research journey, as well as the opportunity to gain international expertise in vaccine immunology.
Theresa is currently seconded to the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, United Kingdom as a postdoctoral researcher and by-fellow at University of Cambridge’s Churchill College. Here she is leading a research partnership, weaving together the Malaghan’s RNA technology platform with Babraham’s expertise in ageing immunity, with the goal to develop novel vaccines for Aotearoa NZ that rejuvenate the ageing immune system.
In 2024 she was awarded a Te Niwha Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship to support her research.
Related news
In Focus: Rejuvenating the ageing immune system
17 July 2024
Kia Niwha Leader Fellowship for Malaghan vaccine researcher
6 May 2024
International collaboration to crack the code on the ageing immune system
31 May 2023
Homegrown COVID-19 booster vaccine: building New Zealand’s biomedical capability
23 May 2022
Inaugural Te Urungi Churchill College By-Fellowship awarded to Dr Theresa Pankhurst
26 April 2022
Publications
2024
Pankhurst TE, Linterman MA (2024). Highlight of 2023: Advances in germinal centers. Immunol Cell Biol. 102(6):463-466.
Pankhurst TE, Montgomerie I, Marshall A, Draper SL, Bilbrough T, Button KR, Palmer OR, Hermans IF, Painter GF, Connor LM, Compton BJ (2024). A Glycolipid-Peptide-Hapten Tricomponent Conjugate Vaccine Generates Durable Antihapten Antibody Responses in Mice. ACS Chem Biol. 19(6):1366-1375
2023
Pankhurst TE, Buick KH, Lange JL, Marshall AJ, Button KR, Palmer OR, Farrand KJ, Montgomerie I, Bird TW, Mason NC, Kuang J, Compton BJ, Comoletti D, Salio M, Cerundolo V, Quiñones-Mateu ME, Painter GF, Hermans IF, Connor LM (2023). MAIT cells activate dendritic cells to promote TFH cell differentiation and induce humoral immunity. Cell Rep. 42(4):112310
Montgomerie I, Bird TW, Palmer OR, Mason NC, Pankhurst TE, Lawley B, Hernández LC, Harfoot R, Authier-Hall A, Anderson DE, Hilligan KL, Buick KH, Mbenza NM, Mittelstädt G, Maxwell S, Sinha S, Kuang J, Subbarao K, Parker EJ, Sher A, Hermans IF, Ussher JE, Quiñones-Mateu ME, Comoletti D, Connor LM; On behalf theVAANZ Group (2023). Incorporation of SARS-CoV-2 spike NTD to RBD Protein Vaccine Improves Immunity Against Viral Variants. iScience. 26(4):106256