Speaker

Professor Nigel McMillan, Program Director: Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Menzies Health Institute QLD, Griffith University

Abstract

COVID-19 started with a few strange respiratory illnesses in Wuhan China just 14 months ago to a full-blown pandemic with over 2 million deaths worldwide today. It has fundamentally changed the world with the response to control being highly varied from strict lockdowns of whole cities and states to social distancing and a reliance on public buy-in on compliance. 

The research effort in the last 18 months has been spectacular, with more than 70 vaccines in current clinical trial and a large range of therapeutic modalities tested or used. The McMillan-Morris laboratory at Griffith has developed an RNA-based antiviral based on siRNA that is able to protect mice against lethal SARS-COV-2 infection. As it targets a highly conserved region of the virus genome it is designed to work against all beta coronaviruses including MERS, SARS-CoV-1 and all current variants of SARS-CoV-2, past present and future. I will present an overview of the pandemic including responses, controversies, and treatments as well as present our latest data.

Bio

Nigel McMillanProfessor Nigel McMillan is a virologist and cancer researcher whose research has focused on the novel treatments for viruses and viral cancers.  He discovered the receptor for the human papillomavirus, has developed novel RNA-based treatments for cancers caused by HPV, and has designed a range of novel nanoparticle delivery systems for gene silencing and editing technologies.

His laboratory was the first to show that cancer could be cured in vivo using CRISPR technology in 2019. He established the Griffith Centre for Cell and Gene Medicines in 2021, which includes the Griffith RNA Biofoundry. He is Professor in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences and Program Director of Infectious Diseases in the Menzies Health Institute Queensland based at Griffith University’s Gold Coast Campus.

Prof McMillan has had continuous NHMRC grant funding since establishing his laboratory in 1996 and has published 114 papers including papers in PNAS, Clinical Cancer Research, Oncology, Journal of Virology, Nature Nanotechnology and Nature Communications. He is past president of the Australasian Virology Society. His laboratory is currently developing RNA therapies to treat COVID19. 

About Seminar Series

The School of Pharmacy Seminar Series involves regular formal presentations of high-quality scholarly work with broad appeal.

The wider School community is invited to attend, including academic and professional staff, special guests, visitors, as well as HDR, postgraduate, masters and honours students.

Venue

Level 5, Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE)
20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba 4102
Room: 
Online, or Room 5034