2D. HIV&AIDS Abstract Session: Discovery & translational science: Comorbidities in HIV and HTLV
Tracks
| Monday, September 14, 2026 |
| 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM |
Details
This session explores the complex landscape of comorbidities in chronic HIV and HTLV infection, highlighting the pathogenic mechanisms that drive disease and showcasing emerging tools and technologies that are transforming our ability to understand, detect and predict comorbid conditions.
The expected learning outcomes for the session are to:
- Appreciate how persistent viral reservoirs shape long-term health outcomes in people living with HIV and HTLV.
- Discover how cutting-edge technologies and biomarkers are advancing the detection and prediction of comorbidities in people with HIV.
Speaker
Professor Melissa Churchill
Director Of Research, Translational Research Centre (atract)
RMIT University
Persistence of HIV reservoirs in the brain
Biography
Melissa Churchill is a Professor of Neurovirology at RMIT University, Australia. Her work utilises novel techniques to define the size, nature, regulation, and impact of the HIV reservoir in the brain. She has 100+ publications including in leading journals and is a Board Member of the International Society for Neurovirology.
Dr Natasha Jansz
Senior Research Fellow
University of Melbourne
Pulmonary disease in HTLV-1c infection is characterised by lung-homing T-cells with defective provirus retaining hbz
Biography
Dr Natasha Jansz is a biomedical scientist with a background in
developmental epigenetics and retroviral genomics. Natasha trained at WEHI under Professor Marnie Blewitt. Supported by an NHMRC Investigators grant, Natasha has undertaken postdoctoral training at Helmholtz Institute in Munich, Mater Research UQ, and The Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne.
Dr Morgane Brunton-O'Sullivan
Postdoctoral Researcher
Burnet Institute
A cellular senescence phenotype is associated with frailty in men with HIV.
Biography
Dr. Morgane Brunton-O'Sullivan is a postdoctoral researcher at Burnet Institute in the Infection, Inflammation and Innate Immunity group. Her current work focuses on understanding the underlying biological mechanisms of inflammation-driven comorbidities in HIV to improve health outcomes and wellbeing.
Mr. Jiajun Sun
PhD student
Melbourne Sexual Health Centre
AI-assisted detection of anal precancerous lesions to improve screening in people living with HIV
Biography
Dr. Reshi Suthakaran is a general surgical registrar and has been selected for the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health MACH Track program as part of his PhD.
Mr.Jiajun Sun is a final-year PhD candidate who aims at using artificial intelligence augmented tools to bridge the gaps in clinical practice.
Dr Jennifer Simpson
Post-doc
WIMR
UTILISING MULTI-OMICS ANALYSIS TO CHARACTERISE HIV PERSISTENCE AT THE SITE OF HIV AND TUBERCULOSIS COINFECTION
Biography
Jennifer Simpson is a post-doctoral researcher at WIMR in Sydney, Australia. She completed her PhD at the University of Queensland before completing a post-doc at the National Institutes of Health in the USA. Her current work involves studying the phenotype and TCR repertoire of CD8 T-cells in HIV infection.
Dr Ashley Hirons
Post-doctoral Researcher
Doherty Institute, University Of Melbourne
HTLV-1c infection and pulmonary disease is defined by chronic T-cell activation and high expression of TIM-3
Biography
Ashley Hirons is a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Prof Damian Purcell at the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne. Her research involves investigating the viral genome and expression, and host immune response, to better understand HTLV-1 pathogenesis and develop therapeutic strategies to reduce disease burden.
