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Dr Andrew Kassianos
Dr

Andrew Kassianos

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Overview

Background

Dr Kassianos is a Senior Scientist at the Conjoint Internal Medical Laboratory, Queensland Health. Dr Kassianos has made significant contributions to understanding the cell-cell communication between discrete kidney cell and immune cell populations and the therapeutic potential of targeting this cross-talk in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dr Kassianos has been integral in the development of innovative tools for CKD analytics: (i) in situ/ex vivo profiling for integrating CKD molecular profiles with histopathology; and (ii) preclinical models for screening novel CKD therapeutics. His research is internationally recognised in the field of CKD pathobiology.

Dr Kassianos has contributed to the fields of nephrology and immunology with 41 publications, >2000 career citations (~48 citations/paper) and invited international keynote lectures. Dr Kassianos has a continued record of success in attracting competitive research funding (>$2M as CI), including an NHMRC Dora Lush Scholarship (2007-2010), an RBWH Foundation Fellowship (2012-2014) and two NHMRC Project Grants as CIA (2016-2019; 2019-2022). Dr Kassianos has publications in high-ranking specialist (nephrology, immunology) and generalist journals, including five editorial commentaries in publication issues. These include 21 publications (~50% of his papers) as first or senior author/co-author – of which, 19 (90%) are in top field-weighted journals (Q1, top 10%), including Kidney Int, J Am Soc Nephrol, Cell Death Dis and J Extracell Vesicles. During this time, Dr Kassianos has supervised 5 Early Career Researchers, 5 PhD students (3 to completion) and 2 Masters students (both to completion). Dr Kassianos is also an Editor at Frontiers in Physiology and has contributed to 3 NHMRC grant review panels (2019-2021).

Availability

Dr Andrew Kassianos is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Works

Search Professor Andrew Kassianos’s works on UQ eSpace

46 works between 2005 and 2024

41 - 46 of 46 works

2010

Book Chapter

Isolation of Human Blood DC Subtypes

Kassianos, Andrew J., Jongbloed, Sarah L., Hart, Derek N.J. and Radford, Kristen J. (2010). Isolation of Human Blood DC Subtypes. Dendritic cell protocols. (pp. 45-54) edited by Shalin H. Naik. New York, NY United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-60761-421-0_3

Isolation of Human Blood DC Subtypes

2009

Journal Article

NK cells enhance the induction of CTL responses by IL-15 monocyte-derived dendritic cells

Hardy, M., Kassianos, A., Vulink, A., Wilkinson, R., Jongbloed, S. L., Hart, D. N. J. and Radford, K. J. (2009). NK cells enhance the induction of CTL responses by IL-15 monocyte-derived dendritic cells. Immunology and Cell Biology, 87 (8), 606-614. doi: 10.1038/icb.2009.44

NK cells enhance the induction of CTL responses by IL-15 monocyte-derived dendritic cells

2006

Journal Article

Numerical and functional assessment of blood dendritic cells in prostate cancer patients

Wilkinson, Ray, Kassianos, Andrew J., Swindle, Peter, Hart, Derek N. J. and Radford, Kristen J. (2006). Numerical and functional assessment of blood dendritic cells in prostate cancer patients. The Prostate, 66 (2), 180-192. doi: 10.1002/pros.20333

Numerical and functional assessment of blood dendritic cells in prostate cancer patients

2006

Journal Article

CD11c+ blood dendritic cells induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes with similar efficiency compared to monocyte-derived dendritic cells despite higher levels of MHC class I expression

Radford, Kristen J., Turtle, Cameron J., Kassianos, Andrew J. and Hart, Derek N. J. (2006). CD11c+ blood dendritic cells induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes with similar efficiency compared to monocyte-derived dendritic cells despite higher levels of MHC class I expression. Journal of Immunotherapy, 29 (6), 596-605. doi: 10.1097/01.cji.0000211310.90621.5d

CD11c+ blood dendritic cells induce antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes with similar efficiency compared to monocyte-derived dendritic cells despite higher levels of MHC class I expression

2005

Journal Article

Immunoselection of functional CMRF-56+ blood dendritic cells from multiple myeloma patients for immunotherapy

Radford, Kristen J., Turtle, Cameron J., Kassianos, Andrew J., Vuckovic, Slavica, Gardiner, Damien, Khalil, Dahlia, Taylor, Kerry, Wright, Sue, Gill, Devinder and Hart, Derek N. J. (2005). Immunoselection of functional CMRF-56+ blood dendritic cells from multiple myeloma patients for immunotherapy. Journal of Immunotherapy, 28 (4), 322-331. doi: 10.1097/01.cji.0000163592.66910.e4

Immunoselection of functional CMRF-56+ blood dendritic cells from multiple myeloma patients for immunotherapy

2005

Journal Article

Simple, robust strategies for generating DNA-directed RNA interference constructs

Rice, Robert R., Muirhead, Andrew N., Harrison, Bruce T., Kassianos, Andrew J., Sedlak, Petra L., Maugeri, Narelle J., Goss, Peter J., Davey, Jonathan R., James, David E. and Graham, Michael W. (2005). Simple, robust strategies for generating DNA-directed RNA interference constructs. Methods in Enzymology, 392 (18), 405-419. doi: 10.1016/S0076-6879(04)92024-1

Simple, robust strategies for generating DNA-directed RNA interference constructs

Funding

Past funding

  • 2020 - 2021
    Applying Spatial Transcriptomics to Discover Kidney Disease Pathways and Optimize Clinical Kidney Biopsy Assessment
    Metro North Hospital and Health Service
    Open grant

Supervision

Availability

Dr Andrew Kassianos is:
Available for supervision

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Available projects

  • Targeting the ‘wave of death’ check-points of chronic kidney disease (CKD)

    Principal Advisor: Dr Andrew Kassianos

    Email: Andrew.Kassianos@health.qld.gov.au

    Organisational unit: QIMR Berghofer and Royal Brisbane Clinical Unit

    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide public health burden, defined as decreased kidney function for >3months. In Australia alone, 1 in 3 adults (6 million people) are at risk of developing CKD, with the annual financial cost of CKD >$5 billion. Furthermore, there is no cure for CKD. Understanding the pathological mechanisms of CKD progression will fast-track the development of urgently needed clinical therapeutics.

    Our team have established specialised epithelial cells of the kidney proximal tubule (PTEC) as central players in CKD. Under the pathological conditions of CKD, we show that human PTEC:

    1. Undergo primary cell death;
    2. Release small extracellular vesicles (exosomes) from their (polarised) apical membrane that directly induce secondary cell death in adjacent healthy PTEC; and
    3. Produce danger signals (including exosomes) from their (polarised) basolateral membrane that activate local immune cells and indirectly induce secondary cell death in adjacent PTEC.

    This project will explore the therapeutic potential of targeting these ‘wave of death’ check-points in established pre-clinical human models of CKD. Outcomes of this proposal will have a major health impact in providing the rationale for innovative, evidence-based therapies for CKD. A PhD scholarship is available for this project.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Familial hypercholesterolaemia: towards diagnosis in newborns

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Therapeutic targeting of wave of death signalling in human kidney disease

    Associate Advisor

Completed supervision

Media

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