Dr. Kylie Quinn
Senior Lecturer, Laboratory Medicine
Details
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College: School of Health and Biomedical Sciences
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Department: Health and Biomedical Sciences
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Campus: Bundoora West Australia
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kylie.quinn@rmit.edu.au
Open to
- Media enquiries
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
About
Dr Kylie Quinn is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at RMIT University whose research focuses on cell-based immunotherapies, vaccines, and ageing.
Dr Kylie Quinn is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at RMIT University where she leads the Ageing and Immunotherapies research group. Her current research is focused on understanding how ageing alters T cell immunity in older individuals, with the ultimate aim of optimising immune function during vaccination and cell-based therapies.
One key area of research is focused on a new immune cell-based therapy for cancer, called chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CTT). In CTT, a patient’s T cells are activated, modified with a chimeric antigen receptor directed against a tumour-associated antigen, and transferred back into the patient to eliminate malignant cells. It can achieve striking remission rates, but it can be more variable in older patients, as aged T cells become more difficult to activate and T cell function shifts with age. Her work aims to identify what mechanisms limit T cell activation during ageing and to remove that barrier during the CTT protocol, thereby tailoring CTT for older patients.
Her other key area of research is focused on understanding how to trigger optimal T cell responses through vaccination in older patients. Older individuals tend to have poorer T cell responses to novel infections and vaccines due to deficits in naïve T cell populations. They can also have reduced responses to previously encountered infections due to changes in memory T cell composition and quality. Her work aims to identify optimal mechanisms of adjuvancy and other adjunct therapeutics to improve vaccine responses in older patients.
Prior to joining RMIT University, Dr Quinn was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Monash University and the University of Melbourne, and a Visiting Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the USA, where she worked on defining how novel vaccine formulations work and contributed key pre-clinical data for Ebola vaccines that were selected by the World Health Organisation for trials in the 2014 epidemic in West Africa. Since arriving in Australia in 2013, her research focused on ageing and immunity. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the John and Eileen Haddon Award for Geriatric Research from the Rebecca L Cooper Foundation (2019), Jared Purton Award for an Emerging Researcher in Immunology from the Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology (2019) and the RMIT University Rising Media Star Award (2020).
More broadly, Dr Quinn is passionate about communicating science to the public and has a long-standing interest in issues of equity and inclusion in science. She is the current Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology Women’s Initiative Co-ordinator (2019-2021) and has engaged extensively with a wide variety of media outlets and public forums in Australia and internationally to support vaccine education during the 2020/21 COVID pandemic.
Industry experience:
Exopharm Ltd (2021-current collaboration)
Okairos AG (2008-2013 collaboration)
Genvec Ltd (2008-2013 collaboration)
Awards:
2021
Australia & New Zealand Society of Immunology (ASI) Public Engagement Award
RMIT University STEM College Impact Award for public outreach on COVID vaccination
2020
RMIT Rising Media Star Award
2019
John and Eileen Haddon Award for geriatrics research with the Rebecca L. Cooper Foundation
ASI Jared Purton Award for an Emerging Researcher in Immunology
2017
Best Oral Presentation Prize for Infection and Immunity Workshop at the ASI Annual Meeting, Brisbane, Australia
Best Oral Presentation Prize at the Ageing Cell Conference, Cambridge, UK
2015
Best Oral Presentation Prize for Infection and Immunity Workshop at the Australasian Society of Immunology (ASI) Annual Meeting, Canberra, Australia
2012
Selected participant at the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery Annual Meeting for Young and Early Career Investigators. Selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; all costs covered
2011
US National Institutes of Health Fellows Award for Research Excellence
Selected participant at the Adjuvants and HIV Vaccine Development Workshop for Young and Early Career Investigators. Selected by the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise with OCTAVE; all costs covered
2007
Todd Foundation Award for Excellence
Best Oral Presentation Prize at the Immunet 2007 Meeting, Wellington, NZ
2006
Runner-up for Advancing Human Health Category in MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards. For communication of scientific concepts to the general public
Dr Kylie Quinn is a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at RMIT University where she leads the Ageing and Immunotherapies research group. Her current research is focused on understanding how ageing alters T cell immunity in older individuals, with the ultimate aim of optimising immune function during vaccination and cell-based therapies.
One key area of research is focused on a new immune cell-based therapy for cancer, called chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CTT). In CTT, a patient’s T cells are activated, modified with a chimeric antigen receptor directed against a tumour-associated antigen, and transferred back into the patient to eliminate malignant cells. It can achieve striking remission rates, but it can be more variable in older patients, as aged T cells become more difficult to activate and T cell function shifts with age. Her work aims to identify what mechanisms limit T cell activation during ageing and to remove that barrier during the CTT protocol, thereby tailoring CTT for older patients.
Her other key area of research is focused on understanding how to trigger optimal T cell responses through vaccination in older patients. Older individuals tend to have poorer T cell responses to novel infections and vaccines due to deficits in naïve T cell populations. They can also have reduced responses to previously encountered infections due to changes in memory T cell composition and quality. Her work aims to identify optimal mechanisms of adjuvancy and other adjunct therapeutics to improve vaccine responses in older patients.
Prior to joining RMIT University, Dr Quinn was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Monash University and the University of Melbourne, and a Visiting Fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the USA, where she worked on defining how novel vaccine formulations work and contributed key pre-clinical data for Ebola vaccines that were selected by the World Health Organisation for trials in the 2014 epidemic in West Africa. Since arriving in Australia in 2013, her research focused on ageing and immunity. She has received a number of awards for her work, including the John and Eileen Haddon Award for Geriatric Research from the Rebecca L Cooper Foundation (2019), Jared Purton Award for an Emerging Researcher in Immunology from the Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology (2019) and the RMIT University Rising Media Star Award (2020).
More broadly, Dr Quinn is passionate about communicating science to the public and has a long-standing interest in issues of equity and inclusion in science. She is the current Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology Women’s Initiative Co-ordinator (2019-2021) and has engaged extensively with a wide variety of media outlets and public forums in Australia and internationally to support vaccine education during the 2020/21 COVID pandemic.
Industry experience:
Exopharm Ltd (2021-current collaboration)
Okairos AG (2008-2013 collaboration)
Genvec Ltd (2008-2013 collaboration)
Awards:
2021
Australia & New Zealand Society of Immunology (ASI) Public Engagement Award
RMIT University STEM College Impact Award for public outreach on COVID vaccination
2020
RMIT Rising Media Star Award
2019
John and Eileen Haddon Award for geriatrics research with the Rebecca L. Cooper Foundation
ASI Jared Purton Award for an Emerging Researcher in Immunology
2017
Best Oral Presentation Prize for Infection and Immunity Workshop at the ASI Annual Meeting, Brisbane, Australia
Best Oral Presentation Prize at the Ageing Cell Conference, Cambridge, UK
2015
Best Oral Presentation Prize for Infection and Immunity Workshop at the Australasian Society of Immunology (ASI) Annual Meeting, Canberra, Australia
2012
Selected participant at the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery Annual Meeting for Young and Early Career Investigators. Selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; all costs covered
2011
US National Institutes of Health Fellows Award for Research Excellence
Selected participant at the Adjuvants and HIV Vaccine Development Workshop for Young and Early Career Investigators. Selected by the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise with OCTAVE; all costs covered
2007
Todd Foundation Award for Excellence
Best Oral Presentation Prize at the Immunet 2007 Meeting, Wellington, NZ
2006
Runner-up for Advancing Human Health Category in MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Awards. For communication of scientific concepts to the general public
Supervisor projects
- High Frequency Acoustic Cellular Interactions
- 25 Sep 2024
- The Mental Health Impact of Childhood SARS-CoV-2
- 14 Apr 2023
- The Impact of Ageing on T Cell Recruitment to Tumors
- 20 Oct 2022
- The Impact of Ageing on CAR T Cell Therapy
- 21 Jun 2020
Teaching interests
Supervisor interest areas:
Ageing
Cancer Immunology
Vaccine Immunology
Supervisor projects:
Biomarkers for Age-Related Dysfunction in Cell-Based Therapies (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Age-Related Dysfunction in T cell subsets for Cell-Based Therapies (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Impact of Ageing on T Cell Recruitment to Tumors (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Host Erythrocyte Signaling as a Target for Novel Antimalarials (Co-supervisor, RMIT)
Development and Maintenance of Virtual Memory CD8 T Cells During Ageing and Infection (Co-supervisor, Monash)
Programs:
- ONPS2559 - Clinical Immunology
- ONPS2388 - Advanced Immunology and Cell Technology
Ageing
Cancer Immunology
Vaccine Immunology
Supervisor projects:
Biomarkers for Age-Related Dysfunction in Cell-Based Therapies (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Age-Related Dysfunction in T cell subsets for Cell-Based Therapies (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Impact of Ageing on T Cell Recruitment to Tumors (Senior supervisor, RMIT)
Host Erythrocyte Signaling as a Target for Novel Antimalarials (Co-supervisor, RMIT)
Development and Maintenance of Virtual Memory CD8 T Cells During Ageing and Infection (Co-supervisor, Monash)
Programs:
- ONPS2559 - Clinical Immunology
- ONPS2388 - Advanced Immunology and Cell Technology
Research interests
Dr Kylie Quinn’s current research is focused on understanding how ageing can limit T cell immunity in older individuals and how we might optimise immune function during vaccination and cell-based therapies.
One key area of research is focused on a new immune cell-based therapy for cancer, called chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CTT). In CTT, a patient’s T cells are activated, modified with a chimeric antigen receptor directed against a tumour-associated antigen, and transferred back into the patient to eliminate malignant cells. It can achieve striking remission rates, but it can be more variable in older patients, as aged T cells become more difficult to activate and T cell function shifts with age. Her work aims to identify what mechanisms limit T cell activation during ageing and to remove that barrier during the CTT protocol, thereby tailoring CTT for older patients.
Her other key area of research is focused on understanding how to trigger optimal T cell responses through vaccination in older patients. Older individuals tend to have poorer T cell responses to novel infections and vaccines due to deficits in naïve T cell populations. They can also have reduced responses to previously encountered pathogens due to changes in memory T cell composition and quality. Her work aims to identify optimal mechanisms of adjuvancy and other adjunct therapeutics to improve vaccine responses in older patients.
Research keywords:
Ageing, Cancer, Vaccine, Immunology, T cell
One key area of research is focused on a new immune cell-based therapy for cancer, called chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CTT). In CTT, a patient’s T cells are activated, modified with a chimeric antigen receptor directed against a tumour-associated antigen, and transferred back into the patient to eliminate malignant cells. It can achieve striking remission rates, but it can be more variable in older patients, as aged T cells become more difficult to activate and T cell function shifts with age. Her work aims to identify what mechanisms limit T cell activation during ageing and to remove that barrier during the CTT protocol, thereby tailoring CTT for older patients.
Her other key area of research is focused on understanding how to trigger optimal T cell responses through vaccination in older patients. Older individuals tend to have poorer T cell responses to novel infections and vaccines due to deficits in naïve T cell populations. They can also have reduced responses to previously encountered pathogens due to changes in memory T cell composition and quality. Her work aims to identify optimal mechanisms of adjuvancy and other adjunct therapeutics to improve vaccine responses in older patients.
Research keywords:
Ageing, Cancer, Vaccine, Immunology, T cell
