Prof Tania De Koning-Ward

• NHMRC Howard Florey Centenary Fellowship (2000-2001)
• Deakin University Award for Research Excellence (2010)
• NHMRC Research Excellence Award (2010)
• NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (2011)
• Commonwealth Health Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Health and Medical       Research (2011)
• Smart Geelong Network Biotechnology Award (2012)
• Smart Geelong Network Researcher of the Year Award (Highly Commended) (2012)
• Deakin University Health Faculty Award for Innovation in Teaching (2012)
• NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (2018-2022)

Malaria is one of the world’s most devastating human health problems, give rise to ~229 million cases each year, ~409,000 of which will be fatal. Unfortunately, there is no highly efficacious licenced malaria vaccine and resistance to currently available anti-malaria drugs is widespread. Thus, there is a desperate need to identify new intervention strategies to reduce the global malaria parasite burden.

Prof de Koning-Ward’s research program aims to investigate a molecular level, key parasite-host interactions that enable malaria parasites to thrive and survive in their host and cause disease. She utilises both human and rodent malaria transgenesis systems to genetically modify malaria genes to dissect gene function. The use of both transgenesis systems enables the characterisation of proteins in the clinically relevant human malaria parasite, which is predominantly cultured in blood cells in vitro, and the dissection of the functional significance and contribution of these proteins to pathogenesis and immunity using an in vivo model of malaria infection. By understanding the key mechanisms by which parasites are able to survive within their host and cause disease, her research aims to discover new drug targets that can be used to prevent the large morbidity and mortality associated with malaria infections.

We are now recruiting Honours and PhD Students to work on the following project areas. Please email expressions of interest to Prof de Koning-Ward.

Professor de Koning-Ward joined the School of Medicine at Deakin University when it was opening its doors to its first intake of medical students. For several years she coordinated the Infection, Defence and Repair Unit for 1st year medical students. She developed the School of Medicine’s Honours Course and more recently the Masters of Philosophy Program for which she is currently the Course Director.

Infectious diseases, microbiology, parasitology, immunology, molecular biology, cellular biology, biochemistry, functional genomics, genetic engineering, pathogenesis, virulence, animal models of disease, host-pathogen interaction

Malaria is one of the world’s most devastating human health problems, give rise to ~229 million cases each year, ~409,000 of which will be fatal. Unfortunately, there is no highly efficacious licenced malaria vaccine and resistance to currently available anti-malaria drugs is widespread. Thus, there is a desperate need to identify new intervention strategies to reduce the global malaria parasite burden.

Prof de Koning-Ward’s research program aims to investigate a molecular level, key parasite-host interactions that enable malaria parasites to thrive and survive in their host and cause disease. She utilises both human and rodent malaria transgenesis systems to genetically modify malaria genes to dissect gene function. The use of both transgenesis systems enables the characterisation of proteins in the clinically relevant human malaria parasite, which is predominantly cultured in blood cells in vitro, and the dissection of the functional significance and contribution of these proteins to pathogenesis and immunity using an in vivo model of malaria infection. By understanding the key mechanisms by which parasites are able to survive within their host and cause disease, her research aims to discover new drug targets that can be used to prevent the large morbidity and mortality associated with malaria infections.

We are now recruiting Honours and PhD Students to work on the following project areas. Please email expressions of interest to Prof de Koning-Ward. 

• Understanding how malaria parasites remodel the host cells in which they reside
• Dissecting how malaria parasites obtain nutrients essential to their survival
• Dissecting host proteins that contribute to malaria pathogenesis
• Characterising the role of malaria aminopeptidases in hemoglobin digestion
• Dissecting how malaria parasites traffic diverse proteins to distinct cellular locations
• Screening for drugs that target malaria parasites and delineating their mode of action