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A new era for global immunology

“We’re unlocking new frontiers of discovery, forging a future where immune health can be transformed into a visible picture that can be measured and understood.”
Professor Ken Smith
Director, WEHI

About our research

The centre’s interconnected research and clinical programs will focus on three grand challenges. These include how to:

  • Predict who is most at risk of developing an immune disease
  • Measure, monitor and modify the immune system to maintain optimal health and avoid illness
  • Accelerate personalised treatment approaches for immune diseases.

Research focus

Three interconnected research and clinical programs are planned:

Program 1: Measure

Develop an expanded toolbox of tests to measure immune health.

Program 2: Model

Build models that enable us to create simulations of an individual’s immune system. These models will more quickly design, test and develop new personalised diagnosis methods and treatments.

Program 3: Monitor and Modify

Establish patient groups, working initially at Royal Melbourne Hospital (then expanding nationally and internationally) to collect detailed clinical and immunological data. Monitoring these groups over time, we will develop new approaches and more personalised treatments for immune diseases.

WEHI’s Professor Daniel Gray shares how the Snow Centre for Immune Health’s pioneering research approach, integrated with the Royal Melbourne Hospital, will accelerate discoveries in the lab to benefit patients.

“Side-by-side collaboration between researchers and clinicians, constantly sharing knowledge from the lab to bedside and back again, is the driving force of innovation in patient care.”
Professor Shelley Dolan
Chief Executive, the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Understanding the immune system

Our breakthrough science begins with a key question: How does the immune system sense, measure and match its response to specific challenges?

This is a complex and difficult problem, but our research teams have made a conceptual breakthrough.

This unique approach has the potential to guide personalised prevention and disease treatment strategies worldwide.

 

Learn more about immunology and our immune system

At a glance

Sensitive immune cells

Immune cells receive signals from their surroundings to sense threats and fine-tune their response. They carefully adjust their reactions based on the level of threat, like adjusting a series of dials.

These cellular dials are incredibly sensitive and even slight genetic differences between individuals can greatly change the magnitude of the response.

These cells are incredibly sensitive and altered by even slight genetic differences between individuals.

Measuring immune dials

We can measure and compare the performance of these ‘dials’ in immune cells. This provides a new way to assess a person’s immune health.

 

 

Discovering these cellular dials opens a new window into understanding how an immensely complicated system operates – shedding light on a mystery.

This breakthrough is crucial for understanding the immune system. It also has the potential to revolutionise our understanding of biology, potentially leading to advancements in other major health challenges too.

Deepening our understanding of immune function

Immune-mediated diseases affect millions of individuals worldwide and represent a significant global health issue. These conditions arise from dysfunction in the immune system, leading to chronic illness, reduced quality of life, and increased risk of severe complications such as infections or organ failure.

The prevalence of these diseases is rising, driven by factors such as aging populations, environmental changes, and lifestyle shifts. The problem is that we have no effective tools for measuring immune health or predicting those most at risk.

The core aim of the Snow Centre is to change our understanding of how the immune system operates and to translate our insights into discoveries of new measures and interventions for disease.

By deciphering the intricate workings of immune responses, memory, and disease variations, we aim to improve early diagnosis, understand disease mechanisms, and develop more effective, personalised treatments.

 

Join our team

The centre is expected to employ more than 50 scientists, clinicians and staff within the first five years, supporting the next generation of talented researchers and uniting many minds from diverse fields to focus on immune health.

Visit our career opportunities page for current job listings.

 

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© WEHI 2025
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