Precision Immunopeptidomics: A Pathway to HIV Cure

Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy, HIV persists in long-lived reservoir cells that evade immune detection. Current HIV cure strategies have had limited success because they rely largely on computationally predicted targets that are often not naturally presented by infected cells. This PhD project will apply cutting-edge immunopeptidomics, a mass spectrometry approach that directly identifies viral peptides displayed on the surface of HIV-infected cells, to discover the true immune targets of the HIV reservoir.

Utilising unique clinical cohorts from Australia and the United Kingdom, the candidate will map HIV peptides presented by infected reservoir cells, define CD8+ T cell responses, and develop novel therapeutic tools capable of identifying these targets. The project combines immunology, mass spectrometry, single-cell genomics, bioinformatics, and protein engineering. Through collaboration with the University of Oxford, the candidate will gain international research experience and contribute to the development of precision immunotherapies aimed at achieving an HIV cure.