Areas of interest

COVID-19 Influenza Pneumonia

Research group

Viral Immunity and Immunopathology

Biography

Dr Chris Harpur is a postdoctoral scientist specialising in immune responses to viral pathogens. He completed his PhD in 2017 at the Peter Doherty Institute (The University of Melbourne) under the supervision of Professor Andrew Brooks and Professor Thomas Gebhardt.

His first postdoctoral position focused on characterising novel unconventional T cells, which bridge the gap between innate and adaptive immunity, in human adults and later moved to the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute to extend this investigation to the early development of these cells.

In 2020, Dr Harpur joined the Viral Immunity and Immunopathology research group headed by Associate Professor Michelle Tate at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research to examine potential drug repurposing options to therapeutically treat respiratory diseases. His work, in partnership with Lateral Pharma, a Melbourne-based pharmaceutical company, has helped demonstrate the efficacy of their patented peptide compounds, in a mouse model of severe influenza A virus infection. These novel therapeutics target host proteins to moderate dysregulated innate immune responses that can cause excessive inflammation, tissue damage and worse disease outcomes.

Dr Harpur has also been involved in the Day of Immunology organisation committee for over a decade, serving as the chair for fundraising events in Victoria and Tasmania and organising public discovery tours of Melbourne-based medical research institutes. He has also served on the Equity and Diversity committee since 2021 with a particular interest in gender equity and providing access for people with disabilities.