MENTEE – Hannah Law

Hannah Law completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science (Hons 1) majoring in Anatomy and Pathology in 2017. Her introduction to research was at the Kirby Institute under the tutelage of Dr. Munier and Prof. Kelleher, with a focus on immunovirology. During her honours year, she studied the dynamics and regulation of the secondary HIV-1 co-receptor, CCR5, on a subset of white blood cells that form a major viral reservoir during HIV-1 infection. This guided her interests in immunology into the roles of lymph node resident cells in health and disease, the foundation of her PhD.

Continuing at the Kirby Institute, Hannah’s research utilises high dimensional polychromatic flow cytometry, single cell sequencing and bioinformatics, focussing on immune cell dynamics. Her research aims to determine the existence of a relationship between crucial immune cells in the lymph node and their circulating counterparts in peripheral blood. This will establish the foundations of understanding and leveraging immune responses in the lymph node to produce more effective vaccine and determining if the presence of specific immune cells in the blood could form the basis of a prognostic test of immunity.

During her honours year and first year of postgraduate study, Hannah has had the opportunity to present her research at the Australasian HIV&AIDS Conference and the Australasian Society for Immunology Branch Meeting. These opportunities provided feedback and prospects for collaborations between other researchers, as well as providing an introduction and networking opportunities with industry.

Additionally, she is passionate about science communication and bridging the gap between academia and industry to create diverse and significant collaborations.

You can find Hannah on:

LinkedIn