Biography

Grant Parnell is a postdoctoral research fellow with a strong focus on the translation of transcriptomic technologies into clinical practice. He is a lab member at the Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research. Grant was awarded a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2014 for his work on transcriptome profiling of the immune response in patients admitted to intensive care due to systemic infection. 

Grant’s research identified distinct differences in the immune response in patients with pneumonia caused by bacterial as opposed to influenza infection. As part of this work, a single gene biomarker, IFI27, was identified that is capable of stratification of severity of infection in influenza infected individuals. Grant is a co-inventor on an international patent application for this biomarker.

Keywords

Immune tolerance, Genetics, Immunology, Bioinformatics, Autoimmunity

Themes

Infection and Immunological Conditions

Research Focus

Grant is currently involved in projects investigating the transcriptome of the immune response in multiple sclerosis patients, where we have identified transcription factors which define molecular subtypes of disease and may be useful in assessing suitability of patients for certain treatments, and also response to treatment. He is also involved in a project investigating the role of the vitamin D receptor in myeloid cell differentiation and immunological tolerance, using ChIPseq and RNAseq.

Other Affiliations

Sydney Medical School > Westmead Institute for Medical Research