Associate Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski
Associate Professor

Mariusz Skwarczynski

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+61 7 334 69894

Background

Mariusz Skwarczynski completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1999 at Wroclaw University of Technology (Poland). His postdoctoral training began at Tokushima Bunri University (Japan), and then Kyoto Pharmaceutical University (Japan). In 2008 he joined Professor Istvan Toth’s group at The University of Queensland (Australia) to work on new vaccine development strategies. Currently his group activity is mainly focused on nanotechnology-based peptide vaccine delivery approaches and adjuvants discovery. He is Regional Editor of Australia in Vaccines, and Associate Editor in Frontiers in Pharmacology. He has published over 190 peer-reviewed publications, including 18 book chapters and three books.

Availability

Associate Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Medicinal and biomolecular chemistry Organic chemistry

Qualifications

  • Masters (Coursework) of Science, Wroclaw University of Technology
  • Doctor of Philosophy, Wroclaw University of Technology
  • Member, Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre
  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Current Drug Delivery, Current Drug Delivery
  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Frontiers in Pharmacology (Associate Editor), Frontiers in Pharmacology (Associate Editor)
  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Medicinal Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry
  • Member, Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
  • Member, The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Alumni Association in Australia, The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Alumni Association in Australia
  • Journal Editorial Board Member, Vaccines (Regional Editor of Australia), Vaccines (Regional Editor of Australia)

Research interests

  • Vaccines and Nanomedicine

    Vaccine Design, Adjuvants, Nanotechnology, Peptide Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Vaccine/Drug Delivery, Antimicrobial Agents, Macromolecules, Immunology

Research impacts

Mariusz Skwarczynski work focuses on nanotechnology-based approaches to vaccine adjuvants, with the potential for significant practical applications in developing novel vaccines. He has co-developed unique peptide, polymer, and liposomes-based adjuvanting systems used in vaccine development against malaria, hookworm, Group A Streptococcus, cancer and fertility vaccines.

As per January 2026:

He has published 3 books, 18 book chapters, and over 170 journal papers (~ 40 first and ~ 40 as last author, h index = 55, citations >9000), with a Field-Weighted Citation Impact of 2.14 (twice higher than the average researcher), and 29.9% of publications in last 5-years are in the top 10% of journals by CiteScore. Ranked 5th (Top 0.027% of 18,422) in the world in Subunit Vaccines (2012-2022; ExpertScape) and listed in World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University in 2024, inside the top 0.35% in medicinal & biomolecular chemistry. His publications have received > 150 patent cites.

In the past 10 years, he secured $33.8M in grant funding, including $3.0M as the principle CI, $10.1M as a CI and $20.7M as the AI. He currently holds five grants as a CI: 2xNHMRC Ideas (CIA, 2024-27, $608K; CIA, 2024-27, $856K), CRE NHMRC (CIF, 2026-31, $3,000K), Synergy NHMRC (CIF, 2026-31, $5,000K), and ARC DP (CIA, 2026-30, $1,073K).

He has been invited 21 times in the last 5 years to present at international seminars and conferences,including invited lectures at National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC) (Bangkok, Thailand), Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno (Campania, Italy), University of Opole, (Opole, Poland), and 5th International Symposium on Synthetic Peptide as Human and Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products, (Varadero, Cuba). His work has received over 39 news articles from national and international agencies, including 11 interviews and articles in 2021 from Australia, India, Pakistan, Hungary, Kenya and New Zealand for his work on the oral hookworm vaccine.

He is the Regional Editor of Australia for Vaccines and Associate Editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology. He has organised 9 special issues in the last 5 years for journals such as Vaccines, Molecules and Frontiers in Pharmacology. Furthermore, he organised and chaired “Micro and Nanoparticles in Drug and Vaccine Delivery Symposium”, St Lucia, QLD, 3rd December 2021. He regularly reviews domestic grants, for example, 13 NHMRC Ideas grants in 2024, as well as international, for example, Austrian Science Fund, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, The Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (UK). Peer reviews >10/year for top international journals (e.g. Nat. Commun.; Adv. Sci.; Adv. Mater.; Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev; Acta Biomater.).

He was/is co/supervisor of 33 PhD students (graduated and ongoing), and co/supervisor of over 30 research students. In the years 2019-2025, his supervised students received eleven awards, including the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Higher Degree by Research Theses, and awards at international conferences (travel, best poster, best oral presentations).

Search Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski’s works on UQ eSpace

212 works between 1995 and 2026
All (212) Book (3) Journal Article (178) Other Outputs (2) Conference Publication (9) Book Chapter (20)

161 - 180 of 212 works

2013

Journal Article

Peptide conjugation via CuAAC 'click' chemistry

Ahmad Fuaad, Abdullah A. H., Azmi, Fazren, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2013). Peptide conjugation via CuAAC 'click' chemistry. Molecules, 18 (11), 13148-13174. doi: 10.3390/molecules181113148

Peptide conjugation via CuAAC 'click' chemistry

2012

Journal Article

Liposome-based delivery system for vaccine candidates: constructing an effective formulation

Giddam, Ashwin Kumar, Zaman, Mehfuz, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2012). Liposome-based delivery system for vaccine candidates: constructing an effective formulation. Nanomedicine, 7 (12), 1877-1893. doi: 10.2217/nnm.12.157

Liposome-based delivery system for vaccine candidates: constructing an effective formulation

2012

Journal Article

Peptide-Based Subunit Vaccine against Hookworm Infection

Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Dougall, Annette M., Khoshnejad, Makan, Chandrudu, Saranya, Pearson, Mark S., Loukas, Alex and Toth, Istvan (2012). Peptide-Based Subunit Vaccine against Hookworm Infection. PLoS One, 7 (10 Article #e46870) e46870, e46870. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0046870

Peptide-Based Subunit Vaccine against Hookworm Infection

2012

Journal Article

Vaccination with lipid core peptides fails to induce epitope-specific T cell responses but confers non-specific protective immunity in a malaria model.

Apte, Simon H., Groves, Penny L., Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Fujita, Yoshio, Chang, Chenghung, Toth, Istvan and Doolan, Denise L. (2012). Vaccination with lipid core peptides fails to induce epitope-specific T cell responses but confers non-specific protective immunity in a malaria model.. PLoS One, 7 (8 Article. No.e40928) e40928, e40928. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040928

Vaccination with lipid core peptides fails to induce epitope-specific T cell responses but confers non-specific protective immunity in a malaria model.

2012

Journal Article

Advances in peptide-based Human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines

Liu, Tzu-Yu, Hussein, Waleed M., Toth, Istvan and Skwarczynski, Mariusz (2012). Advances in peptide-based Human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 12 (14), 1581-1592. doi: 10.2174/156802612802652402

Advances in peptide-based Human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines

2012

Journal Article

ChemInform Abstract: Medicinal Chemistry of α-Hydroxy-β-amino Acids

Ziora, Zyta, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Kiso, Yoshiaki (2012). ChemInform Abstract: Medicinal Chemistry of α-Hydroxy-β-amino Acids. ChemInform, 43 (25), no-no. doi: 10.1002/chin.201225259

ChemInform Abstract: Medicinal Chemistry of α-Hydroxy-β-amino Acids

2012

Journal Article

Lipopeptides for the fragment-based pharmaceutics design

Ziora, Zyta M., Wimmer, Norbert, New, Roger, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2012). Lipopeptides for the fragment-based pharmaceutics design. International Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2 (01), 75-81. doi: 10.4236/ijoc.2012.21013

Lipopeptides for the fragment-based pharmaceutics design

2012

Journal Article

Lipid peptide core nanoparticles as multivalent vaccine candidates against Streptococcus pyogenes

Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Parhiz, Bibi Hamideh, Soltani, Fatemeh, Srinivasan, Saranya, Kamaruzaman, Khairul A., Lin, I-Chun and Toth, Istvan (2012). Lipid peptide core nanoparticles as multivalent vaccine candidates against Streptococcus pyogenes. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 65 (1), 35-39. doi: 10.1071/CH11292

Lipid peptide core nanoparticles as multivalent vaccine candidates against Streptococcus pyogenes

2012

Conference Publication

Nanoparticles-based peptide subunit vaccines against group A Streptococcus

Skwarczynski, M., Fuaad, A. A. H. A., Zaman, M., Jia, Z., Kowapradit, J., Rustanti, L., Ziora, Z. M., Monteiro, M. L. J., Batzloff, M. R., Goodc, M. F. and Toth, I. (2012). Nanoparticles-based peptide subunit vaccines against group A Streptococcus. 32nd European Peptide Symposium, Athens, Greece, 2-7 September 2012. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/psc.2448

Nanoparticles-based peptide subunit vaccines against group A Streptococcus

2011

Journal Article

Synthesis of glycolipopeptidic building blocks for carbohydrate receptor discovery

Ziora, Zyta M., Wimmer, Norbert, New, Roger, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2011). Synthesis of glycolipopeptidic building blocks for carbohydrate receptor discovery. Carbohydrate Research, 346 (12), 1439-1444. doi: 10.1016/j.carres.2011.03.019

Synthesis of glycolipopeptidic building blocks for carbohydrate receptor discovery

2011

Journal Article

Peptide-based subunit nanovaccines

Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2011). Peptide-based subunit nanovaccines. Current Drug Delivery, 8 (3), 282-289. doi: 10.2174/156720111795256192

Peptide-based subunit nanovaccines

2011

Journal Article

Self-adjuvanting polyacrylic nanoparticulate delivery system for Group A streptococcus (GAS) vaccine

Zaman, Mehfuz, Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Malcolm, Jessica M., Urbani, Carl N., Jia, Zhongfan, Batzloff, Michael R., Good, Michael F., Monteiro, Michael J. and Toth, Istvan (2011). Self-adjuvanting polyacrylic nanoparticulate delivery system for Group A streptococcus (GAS) vaccine. Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, 7 (2), 168-173. doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2010.10.002

Self-adjuvanting polyacrylic nanoparticulate delivery system for Group A streptococcus (GAS) vaccine

2011

Journal Article

Group A streptococcal vaccine candidates based on the conserved conformational epitope from M protein

Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Ahmad Fuaad, Abdullah A. H., Rustanti, Lina, Ziora, Zyta M., Aqil, Mohammed, Batzloff, Michael R., Good, Michael F. and Toth, Istvan (2011). Group A streptococcal vaccine candidates based on the conserved conformational epitope from M protein. Drug Delivery Letters, 1 (1), 2-8. doi: 10.2174/2210304X11101010002

Group A streptococcal vaccine candidates based on the conserved conformational epitope from M protein

2011

Journal Article

Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic alpha-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis (vol 18, pg 7997, 2010)

Wilke, DV, Jimenez, PC, Araujo, RM, da Silva, WMB, Pessoa, ODL, Silveira, ER, Pessoa, C, de Moraes, MO, Skwarczynski, M, Simerska, P, Toth, I and Costa-Lotufo, LV (2011). Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic alpha-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis (vol 18, pg 7997, 2010). Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 19 (3), 1366-1366. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2010.12.041

Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic alpha-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis (vol 18, pg 7997, 2010)

2011

Conference Publication

Dendritic delivery systems for peptide vaccines

Toth, Istvan, Simerska, Pavla and Skwarczynsky, Mariusz (2011). Dendritic delivery systems for peptide vaccines. 1st European Conference of Microbiology and Immunology, Budapest, Hungary, 12-14 May 2011. Budapest, Hungary: Akademiai Kiado. doi: 10.1556/EuJMI.1.2011.2.1

Dendritic delivery systems for peptide vaccines

2011

Book Chapter

Lipid core peptide system for self-adjuvanting synthetic vaccine delivery

Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Toth, Istvan (2011). Lipid core peptide system for self-adjuvanting synthetic vaccine delivery. Bioconjugation protocols: Strategies and methods. (pp. 297-308) edited by Sonny S. S. Mark. New York , U.S.A: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-151-2_18

Lipid core peptide system for self-adjuvanting synthetic vaccine delivery

2011

Book Chapter

Medicinal chemistry of a-hydroxy-b-amino acids

Ziora, Zyta, Skwarczynski, Mariusz and Kiso, Yoshiaki (2011). Medicinal chemistry of a-hydroxy-b-amino acids. Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins in Organic Chemistry: Volume 4 - Protection Reactions, Medicinal Chemistry, Combinatorial Synthesis. (pp. 189-234) edited by Andrew B. Hughes. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH. doi: 10.1002/9783527631827.ch6

Medicinal chemistry of a-hydroxy-b-amino acids

2010

Journal Article

Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic α-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis

Wilke, Diego Veras, Jimenez, Paula Christine, Araújo, Renata Mendonça, da Silva, Wildson Max Barbosa, Pessoa, Otília Deusdênia Loiola, Silveira, Edilberto Roch, Pessoa, Claudia, de Moraes, Manoel Odorico, Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Simerska, Paul, Toth, Istvan and Costa-Lotufo, Letícia Veras (2010). Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic α-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 18 (22), 7997-8004. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2010.09.027

Pro-apoptotic activity of lipidic α-amino acids isolated from Protopalythoa variabilis

2010

Journal Article

Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: A self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system

Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Zaman, Mehfuz, Urbani, Carl N., Lin, I-Chun, Jia, Zhongfan, Batzloff, Michael R., Good, Michael F., Monteiro, Michael J. and Toth, Istvan (2010). Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: A self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system. Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), 49 (33), 5742-5745. doi: 10.1002/anie.201002221

Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: A self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system

2010

Journal Article

Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: a self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system

Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Zaman, Mehfuz, Urbani, Carl N., Lin, I-Chun, Jia, Zhongfan, Batzloff, Michael R., Good, Michael F., Monteiro, Michael J. and Toth, Istvan (2010). Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: a self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system. Angewandte Chemie, 122 (33), 5878-5881. doi: 10.1002/ange.201002221

Polyacrylate dendrimer nanoparticles: a self-adjuvanting vaccine delivery system

Current funding

  • 2026 - 2030
    Oral anti-fertility vaccine for population control of invasive rabbits
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2027
    A nanovaccine against Invasive Group A Streptococcus and Rheumatic Heart Disease
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2027
    Paving the way for a Clinical Vaccine Candidate against Hookworm Infection
    NHMRC IDEAS Grants
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2024 - 2025
    Single-shot anti-fertility vaccine in pigs
    Australia's Economic Accelerator Seed Grants
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2024
    Poly(amino acids) as immune stimulators
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2025
    A single-shot anti-fertility vaccine in female cattle
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2021
    Hookworm peptide therapeutic for oral treatment of IBD (NHMRC Development Grant administered by James Cook University)
    James Cook University
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2014
    A Self-assembling and Self-adjuvanting Nanoparticular Therapeutic Vaccine Against Cervical Cancer
    NHMRC Project Grant
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski is:
Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.

Available projects

  • A nanonaccine against Invasive Group A Streptococcus and Rheumatic Heart Disease

    The major challenge in any vaccine development is its formulation/delivery once the target antigens are identified. The main aim of this project is to adopt and further develop our immune-stimulating delivery systems to produce a multicomponent synthetic (poly)peptide vaccine candidate against Group A Streptococcus (GAS), the major causative agent of deadly diseases such as rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and invasive GAS infection. Notably, a variety of vaccines against GAS infection have reached clinical trials in the past decades; however, these vaccines have limited efficacy due to the high variability of GAS strains. We hypothesise that the incorporation of three conserved peptide antigens from GAS proteins into our newly developed nanoparticles-based vaccine delivery systems will overcome the above obstacles and produce an efficient and universal vaccine candidate against GAS. The project will deliver preclinical vaccine candidates against Group A Streptococcus, which, after oral dosing, will be able to induce robust opsonic antibody production against a wide range of GAS strains without triggering adverse effects and off-target immune responses. We will employ peptide antigens from the highly conserved region of M-protein, cell envelope proteinase, and fibronectin-binding protein 1. The optimized vaccine delivery system will be easily adaptable for the development of vaccines against other diseases.

  • Oral anti-fertility vaccine for rabbits

    Develop the first oral vaccines that suppress fertility in rabbits and enable responsible and ethical landscape population control. Expected outcomes of this project include the creation of a commercially attractive oral immunization platform.

    Who can apply: medicinal/peptide chemists with preferable knowledge in immunology and pharmaceutical formulations.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Mariusz Skwarczynski directly for media enquiries about:

  • fertility control
  • group A streptococcus
  • hookworm
  • immune adjuvants
  • nanovaccines
  • peptide vaccines

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