Dr Deborah Burnett
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2015-2019 Doctor of Philosophy (Immunology); Garvan Institute, Awarded Garvan Best Thesis Award.
2012 Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Honours Class I) with High Distinction (92%); University of Sydney.
2010 Bachelor of Science (Honours Class I), with High Distinction (90%); University of Sydney and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute,听Awarded the H.R. Carne Medal
Deborah鈥檚 background in veterinary medicine kindled her interest in immunology. She undertook her honours at WEHI investigating the genetic pathways which regulate blood clotting. In 2019, she completed a PhD at the Garvan Institute researching the role of antibodies in protective immune responses and autoimmunity. Deborah鈥檚 PhD made profound discoveries which redefined the role of antibodies in health and disease and led to first author publications in prestigious journals including Science, Cell and PNAS. The significance of her discoveries were acknowledged in her receipt of the 鈥淕arvan Best PhD Thesis鈥, the 鈥淯NSW Dean鈥檚 Award鈥 and the 鈥淯NSW Faculty of Medicine Award鈥 for Outstanding Contribution to Research.
With the emergence of the COVID19 pandemic Deborah pivoted her expertise to explore vaccination strategies to induce antibodies resistant to viral escape. This resulted in discoveries published in Immunity, Nature Microbiology, EJI, mAbs and Cell Reports Medicine. This work led Deborah to receive a highly commended Discovery Award from Research Australia in 2022.
Deborah currently co-leads collaborative initiatives that span research institutions and hospitals, her focus is on enhancing vaccine efficacy against challenging infectious threats including those linked to autoimmune diseases.
In 2023 Deborah was awarded one of 4 Australian "Loreal-UNESCO For Women in Science" Fellows, and 2023 the Premier's Prize for Early Career Researcher of the Year (Biological Sciences).
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- Publications
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- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Her work is currently supported by several prestigious research grants including an NHMRC Investigator and Ideas Grant, an NSW OHMR RNA future Leaders Fellowship and a Perpetual Impact Grant.听
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2023 NSW Premiers Award for Early Career Biological Researcher of the Year
2023 L鈥橭r茅al-UNESCO Women in Science Fellowship
2022 Highly Commended, Griffith University Discovery Award at the Annual Health and Medical Research Awards by Research Australia
2022 Publication of the Quarter, St Vincent鈥檚 Clinical School, UNSW Medicine
2019 Outstanding Contribution to Research by a Higher Degree Student, UNSW Medicine Education and Research Awards
2019 Dean鈥檚 Award for Outstanding PhD Theses, UNSW Graduate Research School
2019 Garvan Best PhD Thesis Award
2015 - 2018 Research Excellence Award, University of NSW
2015 - 2018 Australian Postgraduate Award, University of NSW
2018 Publication of the Year Award, Immunology and Cell Biology Journal
2018 New Investigator Finalist, Australian Society of Immunology
Deborah's research focuses on how the immune system, and in particular B cells respond to immune threats. This includes pathogens believed to mimic our own tissues, hampering vaccine development efforts. Deborah's research involves establishing and validating sophisticated next-generation pre-clinical models to explore responses to these antigens, with the aim of developing improved vaccines against these threats and understanding why a proportion of people develop autoimmune disease following these infections.听