Overview
Background
Professor Kate Schroder heads the Inflammasome Laboratory and is Director of the Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), University of Queensland, as an NHMRC Leadership Fellow. Kate’s graduate studies defined novel macrophage activation mechanisms and her subsequent postdoctoral research identified surprising inter-species divergence in the inflammatory programs of human versus mouse macrophages. As an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellow in Switzerland, Kate trained with the pioneer of inflammasome biology, Jürg Tschopp. The IMB Inflammasome Laboratory, which Kate heads, investigates the molecular mechanisms governing inflammasome activity and caspase activation, the cellular mediators of inflammasome-dependent inflammation, and mechanisms of inflammasome inhibition by cellular pathways and small molecule inhibitors.
Kate is a co-inventor on patents for small molecule inhibitors of the NLRP3 inflammasome, currently under commercialisation by Inflazome Ltd. Inflazome Ltd was recently acquired by Roche in a landmark deal – one of the largest in Australian and Irish biotech history. The acquisition gives Roche full rights to Inflazome’s portfolio of inflammasome inhibitors. Two of the company’s drug candidates are in clinical trials for the treatment of debilitating conditions such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and motor neuron disease.
Kate has authored more than 140 publications, featuring in journals such as Science, Cell, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Nature Chemical Biology, Journal of Experimental Medicine and PNAS USA, and her work has been cited more than 35,000 times. Kate is an Editorial Board Member for international journals including Science Signaling, Clinical and Translational Immunology and Cell Death Disease. She is the recipient of the 2022 Women in Technology Excellence in Science Award, 2020 Nancy Mills Award for Women in Science, 2019 ANZSCDB Emerging Leader Award, 2019 Merck Research Medal, 2014 Milstein Young Investigator Award, 2013 Tall Poppy Award, 2012 Gordon Ada Career Award, 2010 QLD Premier’s Postdoctoral Award, and the 2008 Society for Leukocyte Biology’s Dolph Adams Award.
INFLAMMASOME LABORATORY RESEARCH
During injury or infection, our body’s immune system protects us by launching inflammation. But uncontrolled inflammation drives diseases such as gout, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease and cancer. The Inflammasome Lab is defining the molecular and cellular processes of inflammation. We seek to unravel the secrets of inflammasomes – protein complexes at the heart of inflammation and disease – to allow for new therapies to fight human diseases.
The Inflammasome Laboratory integrates molecular and cell biology approaches with in vivo studies to gain a holistic understanding of inflammasome function during infection, and inflammasome dysfunction in human inflammatory disease. Current research interests include the molecular mechanisms governing inflammasome activity and caspase activation, the cellular mediators of inflammasome-dependent inflammation, and inflammasome suppression by autophagy and small molecule inhibitors.
Availability
- Professor Kate Schroder is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research impacts
Our research focuses on understanding how immune cells launch healthy inflammation to fight infection and unhealthy inflammation to promote disease. By understanding exactly how the body fights infection, we can help identify new drug targets or vaccines to combat infectious disease, which causes 13 million deaths globally each year. By understanding how unhealthy inflammation is initiated, we may also be able to design new strategies for the treatment of common diseases such as cancer, gout and diabetes.
Works
Search Professor Kate Schroder’s works on UQ eSpace
2019
Journal Article
Autophagy, Inflammation, and Metabolism (AIM) Center in its second year
Deretic, Vojo, Prossnitz, Eric, Burge, Mark, Campen, Matthew J., Cannon, Judy, Liu, Ke Jian, Liu, Meilian, Hall, Pamela, Sklar, Larry A., Allers, Lee, Mariscal, Luisa, Garcia, Sally Ann, Weaver, John, Baehrecke, Eric H., Behrends, Christian, Cecconi, Francesco, Codogno, Patrice, Chen, Guang-Chao, Elazar, Zvulun, Eskelinen, Eeva-Liisa, Fourie, Bernard, Gozuacik, Devrim, Hong, Wanjin, Jo, Eun-Kyeong, Johansen, Terje, Juhász, Gábor, Kimchi, Adi, Ktistakis, Nicholas, Kroemer, Guido ... Klionsky, Daniel J. (2019). Autophagy, Inflammation, and Metabolism (AIM) Center in its second year. Autophagy, 15 (10), 1-5. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2019.1634444
2018
Journal Article
NLRC3 restrains responses to a T
Holley, Caroline L., Coll, Rebecca C. and Schroder, Kate (2018). NLRC3 restrains responses to a T. Immunity, 49 (6), 989-991. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2018.12.003
2018
Journal Article
Dimerization and auto-processing induce caspase-11 protease activation within the non-canonical inflammasome
Ross, Connie, Chan, Amy H., Von Pein, Jessica, Boucher, Dave and Schroder, Kate (2018). Dimerization and auto-processing induce caspase-11 protease activation within the non-canonical inflammasome. Life Science Alliance, 1 (6) e201800237, e201800237. doi: 10.26508/lsa.201800237
2018
Journal Article
Correction: Mitochondrial DNA synthesis fuels NLRP3 inflammasome
Coll, Rebecca C., Holley, Caroline L. and Schroder, Kate (2018). Correction: Mitochondrial DNA synthesis fuels NLRP3 inflammasome. Cell Research, 28 (12), 1202-1202. doi: 10.1038/s41422-018-0112-9
2018
Journal Article
Inflammasome inhibition prevents α-synuclein pathology and dopaminergic neurodegeneration in mice
Gordon, Richard, Albornoz, Eduardo A., Christie, Daniel C., Langley, Monica R., Kumar, Vinod, Mantovani, Susanna, Robertson, Avril A. B., Butler, Mark S., Rowe, Dominic B., O'Neill, Luke A., Kanthasamy, Anumantha G., Schroder, Kate, Cooper, Matthew A. and Woodruff, Trent M. (2018). Inflammasome inhibition prevents α-synuclein pathology and dopaminergic neurodegeneration in mice. Science Translational Medicine, 10 (465) aah4066, eaah4066. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aah4066
2018
Journal Article
Mitochondrial DNA synthesis fuels NLRP3 inflammasome
Coll, Rebecca C., Holley, Caroline L. and Schroder, Kate (2018). Mitochondrial DNA synthesis fuels NLRP3 inflammasome. Cell Research, 28 (11), 1046-1047. doi: 10.1038/s41422-018-0093-8
2018
Journal Article
Hepatic expression profiling identifies steatosis-independent and steatosis-driven advanced fibrosis genes
Ramnath, Divya, Irvine, Katharine M., Lukowski, Samuel W., Horsfall, Leigh U., Loh, Zhixuan, Clouston, Andrew D., Patel, Preya J., Fagan, Kevin J., Iyer, Abishek, Lampe, Guy, Stow, Jennifer L., Schroder, Kate, Fairlie, David P., Powell, Joseph E., Powell, Elizabeth E. and Sweet, Matthew J. (2018). Hepatic expression profiling identifies steatosis-independent and steatosis-driven advanced fibrosis genes. JCI Insight, 3 (14) ARTN e120274. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.120274
2018
Journal Article
Autophagy, Inflammation, and Metabolism (AIM) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence: supporting the next generation of autophagy researchers and fostering international collaborations
Deretic, Vojo, Prossnitz, Eric, Burge, Mark, Campen, Matthew J., Cannon, Judy, Liu, Ke Jian, Sklar, Larry A., Allers, Lee, Garcia, Sally Ann, Baehrecke, Eric H., Behrends, Christian, Cecconi, Francesco, Codogno, Patrice, Chen, Guang-Chao, Elazar, Zvulun, Eskelinen, Eeva-Liisa, Fourie, Bernard, Gozuacik, Devrim, Hong, Wanjin, Hotamisligi, Gokhan, Jäättelä, Marja, Jo, Eun-Kyeong, Johansen, Terje, Juhász, Gábor, Kimchi, Adi, Ktistakis, Nicholas, Kroemer, Guido, MIzushima, Noboru, Münz, Christian ... Klionsky, Daniel J. (2018). Autophagy, Inflammation, and Metabolism (AIM) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence: supporting the next generation of autophagy researchers and fostering international collaborations. Autophagy, 14 (6) 15548627.2018.1465784, 925-929. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2018.1465784
2018
Journal Article
MCC950, a specific small molecule inhibitor of NLRP3 inflammasome attenuates colonic inflammation in spontaneous colitis mice
Perera, Agampodi Promoda, Fernando, Ruchira, Shinde, Tanvi, Gundamaraju, Rohit, Southam, Benjamin, Sohal, Sukhwinder Singh, Robertson, Avril A. B., Schroder, Kate, Kunde, Dale and Eri, Rajaraman (2018). MCC950, a specific small molecule inhibitor of NLRP3 inflammasome attenuates colonic inflammation in spontaneous colitis mice. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) 8618, 8618. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26775-w
2018
Journal Article
Cutting edge: blockade of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins sensitizes neutrophils to TNF- but not lipopolysaccharide-mediated cell death and IL-1β secretion
Chen, Kaiwen W., Lawlor, Kate E., von Pein, Jessica B., Boucher, Dave, Gerlic, Motti, Croker, Ben A., Bezbradica, Jelena S., Vince, James E and Schroder, Kate (2018). Cutting edge: blockade of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins sensitizes neutrophils to TNF- but not lipopolysaccharide-mediated cell death and IL-1β secretion. Journal of Immunology, 200 (10), 3341-3346. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701620
2018
Journal Article
IFN regulatory factor 3 balances Th1 and T follicular helper immunity during nonlethal blood-stage Plasmodium infection
James, Kylie R., Soon, Megan S. F., Sebina, Ismail, Fernandez-Ruiz, Daniel, Davey, Gayle, Liligeto, Urijah N., Nair, Arya Sheela, Fogg, Lily G., Edwards, Chelsea L., Best, Shannon E., Lansink, Lianne I. M., Schroder, Kate, Wilson, Jane A. C., Austin, Rebecca, Suhrbier, Andreas, Lane, Steven W., Hill, Geoffrey R., Engwerda, Christian R., Heath, William R. and Haque, Ashraful (2018). IFN regulatory factor 3 balances Th1 and T follicular helper immunity during nonlethal blood-stage Plasmodium infection. Journal of Immunology, 200 (4), 1443-1456. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1700782
2018
Journal Article
Multiple inflammasomes may regulate the interleukin-1-driven inflammation in protracted bacterial bronchitis
Chen, Alice C. -H., Tran, Hai B., Xi, Yang, Yerkovich, Stephanie T., Baines, Katherine J., Pizzutto, Susan J., Carroll, Melanie, Robertson, Avril A. B., Cooper, Matthew A., Schroder, Kate, Simpson, Jodie L., Gibson, Peter G., Hodge, Greg, Masters, Ian B., Buntain, Helen M., Petsky, Helen L., Prime, Samantha J., Chang, Anne B., Hodge, Sandra and Upham, John W. (2018). Multiple inflammasomes may regulate the interleukin-1-driven inflammation in protracted bacterial bronchitis. ERJ Open Research, 4 (1) 00130-2017, 00130-2017. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00130-2017
2018
Book Chapter
Quantifying caspase-1 activity in murine macrophages
Boucher, Dave, Chan, Amy, Ross, Connie and Schroder, Kate (2018). Quantifying caspase-1 activity in murine macrophages. Inflammation and cancer. (pp. 163-176) edited by Brendan J. Jenkins. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7568-6_14
2017
Journal Article
Mechanisms and Consequences of Inflammasome Activation
Schroder, Kate, Kanneganti, Thirumala-Devi, Shao, Feng and Broz, Petr (2017). Mechanisms and Consequences of Inflammasome Activation. Journal of Molecular Biology, 430 (2), 131-132. doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2017.12.005
2017
Conference Publication
XIAP deficiency results in excess NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell death as a consequence of TLR-MyD88 induced cIAP1-TRAF2 degradation
Lawlor, Kate, Feltham, Rebecca, Yabal, Monica, Conos, Stephanie, Chen, Kaiwen, Nguyen, Tan, Hall, Cathrine, Chatfield, Simon, D'Silva, Damian, Pang, Kenneth, Schroder, Kate, Silke, John, Vaux, David, Jost, Philipp and Vince, James (2017). XIAP deficiency results in excess NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell death as a consequence of TLR-MyD88 induced cIAP1-TRAF2 degradation. 5th Annual Meeting of the International-Cytokine-and-Interferon-Society (ICIS), Kanazawa Japan, Oct 29-Nov 02, 2017. LONDON: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD.
2017
Journal Article
Zebrafish earns its stripes for in vivo ASC speck dynamics
Bezbradica, Jelena S. and Schroder, Kate (2017). Zebrafish earns its stripes for in vivo ASC speck dynamics. Journal of Cell Biology, 216 (9), 2615-2618. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201708002
2017
Other Outputs
Sulfonylureas and related compounds and use of the same
O'Neill, Luke , Coll, Rebecca , Cooper, Matt , Robertson, Avril , Schroder, Kate , Macleod, Angus Murray and Miller, David John (2017). Sulfonylureas and related compounds and use of the same. WO2017140778.
2017
Journal Article
Sulfonylureas as concomitant insulin secretagogues and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors
Hill, James R., Coll, Rebecca C., Sue, Nancy, Reid, Janet C., Dou, Jennifer, Holley, Caroline L., Pelingon, Ruby, Dickinson, Joshua B., Biden, Trevor J., Schroder, Kate, Cooper, Matthew A. and Robertson, Avril A. B. (2017). Sulfonylureas as concomitant insulin secretagogues and NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors. ChemMedChem, 12 (17), 1449-1457. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.201700270
2017
Journal Article
Correction: Active MLKL triggers the NLRP3 inflammasome in a cell-intrinsic manner (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2017) 114 (E961-E969) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1613305114)
Conos, Stephanie A., Chen, Kaiwen W., De Nardo, Dominic, Hara, Hideki, Whitehead, Lachlan, Núñez, Gabriel, Masters, Seth L., Murphy, James M., Schroder, Kate, Vaux, David L., Lawlor, Kate E., Lindqvist, Lisa M. and Vince, James E. (2017). Correction: Active MLKL triggers the NLRP3 inflammasome in a cell-intrinsic manner (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2017) 114 (E961-E969) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1613305114). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114 (28), E5762-E5763. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1710668114
2017
Journal Article
In life there is death: How epithelial tissue barriers are preserved despite the challenge of apoptosis
Duszyc, Kinga, Gomez, Guillermo A., Schroder, Kate, Sweet, Matthew J. and Yap, Alpha S. (2017). In life there is death: How epithelial tissue barriers are preserved despite the challenge of apoptosis. Tissue Barriers, 5 (4) e1345353, e1345353. doi: 10.1080/21688370.2017.1345353
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Professor Kate Schroder is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Available projects
-
Student projects
Expressions of interest from prospective postgraduate students are welcome at any time. For information on future research higher degree projects, please email K.Schroder@imb.uq.edu.au with the following: (1) CV, including a summary of academic qualifications, work and research experience, and publication list; (2) studies report for undergraduate and honours degree(s); and (3) a letter of motivation outlining your research interests.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Mechanisms of Inflammasome Assembly and Signalling
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Stefan Emming
-
Doctor Philosophy
Inflammasome inhibition by molecular and cellular processes in fibrosis (e.g. systemic sclerosis)
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Sabrina Sofia Burgener
-
Doctor Philosophy
Inflammasomes in tissue homeostasis and wound healing
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Sabrina Sofia Burgener
-
Doctor Philosophy
Mechanisms of virus-induced NLRP1 Inflammasome Signalling
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Larisa Labzin, Dr Stefan Emming
-
Doctor Philosophy
Studying the synergistic effects of streptococcal SLO and NADase on toxification of the host redox metabolism
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Stephan Brouwer, Professor Mark Walker
-
Doctor Philosophy
Investigating how antibodies against Influenza A Virus modulate macrophage sensing and signalling pathways and outputs.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Kirsty Short, Dr Larisa Labzin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular pathways by which human epithelia and macrophages sense and respond to Influenza A virus infection.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Kirsty Short, Dr Larisa Labzin
-
Doctor Philosophy
Discovery and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel Analgesics for the Relief of Ross River Virus Induced Chronic Pain
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Andy Kuo, Emeritus Professor Maree Smith, Dr Mohammad Zafar Imam
-
Doctor Philosophy
Inflammasome inhibitors in disease: Is there a therapeutic trade-off of compromised host defence?
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Avril Robertson, Dr Sabrina Sofia Burgener
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Mitochondrial Dynamics and the NLRP3 Inflammasome
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Matt Sweet
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular mechanisms of inflammasome-driven Alzheimer's disease
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jürgen Götz, Dr Sabrina Sofia Burgener
-
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular Mechanisms of Non-canonical Inflammasome Activity
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Ian Ross
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Human-specific inflammasome signalling pathways in macrophages
Principal Advisor
-
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Inflammasome function in neutrophils
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Matt Sweet
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Characterisation of the interaction of M1 Group A Streptococcus with the inflammasome pathway
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Mark Walker
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of vincristine induced peripheral neuropathy
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Irina Vetter
-
2018
Doctor Philosophy
Inflammasomes and Autoimmunity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kate Stacey
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Characterisation of Human Macrophage Functions in Innate Immunity
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Matt Sweet, Professor David Fairlie
Media
Enquiries
Contact Professor Kate Schroder directly for media enquiries about:
- Alzheimer's disease
- arthritis
- cancer
- candida
- caspase
- cell biology
- cytokine
- diabetes
- gout
- hereditary disease
- immune system
- inerluekin
- infection
- infectious disease
- inflammasome
- inflammation
- inflammatory disease
- innate immunity
- macrophage
- myeloid
- neutrophil
- nod-like receptor
- pyroptosis
- salmonella
- toll-like receptor
Need help?
For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team: