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Dr Curtis Cai

Dr Curtis Cai

Conjoint Associate Lecturer

BSc (Honours) (UNSW)

PhD (UNSW)

Medicine & Health
School of Biomedical Sciences

Curtis Cai is a postdoctoral researcher specialising in the study of human CD8+ T cell responses. His published works and interests include viral immunology, vaccine responses, tissue residency, and immunotherapy.
E-mail
curtis.cai@unsw.edu.au
  • Book Chapters | 2019
    Van Der Byl W; Rizzetto S; Samir J; Cai C; Eltahla AA; Luciani F, 2019, 'Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis of T Cells', in Methods in Molecular Biology, pp. 155 - 205, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9728-2_16
  • Journal articles | 2025
    Gao Y; Cai C; Adamo S; Biteus E; Kamal H; Dager L; Miners KL; Llewellyn-Lacey S; Ladell K; Amratia PS; Bentley K; Kollnberger S; Wu J; Akhirunnesa M; Jones SA; Julin P; Lidman C; Stanton RJ; Goepfert PA; Peluso MJ; Deeks SG; Davies HE; Aleman S; Buggert M; Price DA, 2025, 'Identification of soluble biomarkers that associate with distinct manifestations of long COVID', Nature Immunology, 26, pp. 692 - 705, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41590-025-02135-5
    Journal articles | 2025
    He C; Wang S; Moreews M; Pei S; Chen G; Li QZ; Del Monte Monge A; Ramiro AR; Cai C; Gaya M; Barral P; Buggert M; Batista FD; Karlsson MCI, 2025, 'The balance between conventional and unconventional T follicular helper cells influences autoreactive B cell responses', Cell Reports, 44, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2025.115602
    Journal articles | 2025
    Maravelia P; Yao H; Cai C; Nascimento Silva D; Fransson J; Nilsson OB; Lu YCW; Micke P; Botling J; Gatto F; Rovesti G; Carlsten M; Sallberg M; Stål P; Jorns C; Buggert M; Pasetto A, 2025, 'Unlocking novel T cell-based immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma through neoantigen-driven T cell receptor isolation', Gut, 74, pp. 1125 - 1136, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2024-334148
    Journal articles | 2025
    Niessl J; Müller TR; Constantz C; Cai C; Nilsén V; Ballesteros OR; Adamo S; Kammann T; Mouchtaridi E; Gao Y; Akhirunnesa M; Raineri EJM; Weigel W; Kokkinou E; Stamper C; Marchalot A; Bassett J; Ferreira S; Rodahl I; Wild N; Stellaccio T; Brownlie D; Ringqvist E; Flodström-Tullberg M; Llewellyn-Lacey S; Tibbitt C; Hammer Q; Michaëlsson J; Price DA; Mjösberg J; Marquardt N; Sandberg JK; Sekine T; Jorns C; Buggert M, 2025, 'Tissue origin and virus specificity shape human CD8+ T cell cytotoxicity', Science Immunology, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.adq4881
    Journal articles | 2024
    Cai C; Keoshkerian E; Wing K; Samir J; Effenberger M; Schober K; Bull RA; Lloyd AR; Busch DH; Luciani F, 2024, 'Discovery of a monoclonal, high-affinity CD8+ T-cell clone following natural hepatitis C virus infection', Immunology and Cell Biology, 102, pp. 630 - 641, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/imcb.12791
    Journal articles | 2024
    Kammann T; Cai C; Sekine T; Mouchtaridi E; Boulouis C; Nilsén V; Ballesteros OR; Müller TR; Gao Y; Raineri EJM; Mily A; Adamo S; Constantz C; Niessl J; Weigel W; Kokkinou E; Stamper C; Marchalot A; Bassett J; Ferreira S; Rødahl I; Wild N; Brownlie D; Tibbitt C; Mak JYW; Fairlie DP; Leeansyah E; Michaelsson J; Marquardt N; Mjösberg J; Jorns C; Buggert M; Sandberg JK, 2024, 'MAIT cell heterogeneity across paired human tissues reveals specialization of distinct regulatory and enhanced effector profiles', Science Immunology, 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.adn2362
    Journal articles | 2023
    Adamo S; Gao Y; Cai C; Müller TR; Niessl J; Akhirunnesa M; Ljunggren H-G; Sällberg M; Bergman P; Ekström A-M; Grifoni A; Sette A; Price DA; Buggert M, 2023, 'Identity of virus-specific and cross-reactive T cell memory to mpox', The Journal of Immunology, 210, pp. 59.47 - 59.47, http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.210.supp.59.47
    Journal articles | 2023
    Cai C; Gao Y; Adamo S; Rivera-Ballesteros O; Hansson L; Österborg A; Bergman P; Sandberg JK; Ljunggren HG; Björkström NK; Strålin K; Llewellyn-Lacey S; Price DA; Qin C; Grifoni A; Weiskopf D; Wherry EJ; Sette A; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2023, 'SARS-CoV-2 vaccination enhances the effector qualities of spike-specific T cells induced by COVID-19', Science Immunology, 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciimmunol.adh0687
    Journal articles | 2023
    Cai C; Gao Y; Olsson A; Sette A; Wherry EJ; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2023, 'Booster mRNA vaccination post-SARS-CoV-2 infection enhances functional qualities of T cell immunity', The Journal of Immunology, 210, pp. 223.13 - 223.13, http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.210.supp.223.13
    Journal articles | 2023
    Humbert M; Olofsson A; Wullimann D; Niessl J; Hodcroft EB; Cai C; Gao Y; Sohlberg E; Dyrdak R; Mikaeloff F; Neogi U; Albert J; Malmberg KJ; Lund-Johansen F; Aleman S; Björkhem-Bergman L; Jenmalm MC; Ljunggren HG; Buggert M; Karlsson AC, 2023, 'Functional SARS-CoV-2 cross-reactive CD4+ T cells established in early childhood decline with age', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2220320120
    Journal articles | 2023
    Louie RHY; Cai C; Samir J; Singh M; Deveson IW; Ferguson JM; Amos TG; McGuire HM; Gowrishankar K; Adikari T; Balderas R; Bonomi M; Ruella M; Bishop D; Gottlieb D; Blyth E; Micklethwaite K; Luciani F, 2023, 'CAR+ and CAR− T cells share a differentiation trajectory into an NK-like subset after CD19 CAR T cell infusion in patients with B cell malignancies', Nature Communications, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43656-7
    Journal articles | 2023
    Luciani F; Louie RY; Cai C; Singh M; Deveson I; Ferguson J; Amos T; McGuire H; Samir J; Gowrishankar K; Adikari T; Balderas R; Bishop D; Gottileb D; Blyth E; Micklethwaite K, 2023, 'CAR+ and CAR- T cells differentiate into an NK-like subset that is associated with increased inflammatory cytokines following infusion', JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, 210, http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.210.Supp.159.15
    Journal articles | 2023
    Müller TR; Sekine T; Trubach D; Niessl J; Chen P; Bergman P; Blennow O; Hansson L; Mielke S; Nowak P; Vesterbacka J; Akber M; Olofsson A; Hernandez SPA; Gao Y; Cai C; Söderdahl G; Smith CIE; Österborg A; Loré K; Chen MS; Ljungman P; Ljunggren HG; Karlsson AC; Saini SK; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2023, 'Additive effects of booster mRNA vaccination and SARSCoV-2 Omicron infection on T cell immunity across immunocompromised states', Science Translational Medicine, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.adg9452
    Journal articles | 2023
    Müller TR; Sekine T; Trubach D; Niessl J; Olofsson A; Gao Y; Cai C; Nowak P; Blennow O; Hansson L; Mielke S; Bergman P; Ljunggren H-G; Karlsson AC; Saini SK; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2023, 'Anamnestic expansion of Omicron-reactive CD8+ T cells after booster SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination across different immunocompromised states', The Journal of Immunology, 210, pp. 75.16 - 75.16, http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.210.supp.75.16
    Journal articles | 2022
    Cai C; Samir J; Adikari T; Peters T; Luciani F, 2022, 'The functional and molecular determinants of HCV-specific CD8 T cell responses during early infection', The Journal of Immunology, 208, pp. 169.12 - 169.12, http://dx.doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.208.supp.169.12
    Journal articles | 2022
    Cai C; Samir J; Pirozyan MR; Adikari TN; Gupta M; Leung P; Hughes B; Van der Byl W; Rizzetto S; Elthala A; Keoshkerian E; Palgen JL; Peters T; Nguyen THO; Louie R; Kedzierska K; Gaudieri S; Bull RA; Lloyd AR; Luciani F, 2022, 'Identification of human progenitors of exhausted CD8+ T cells associated with elevated IFN-γ response in early phase of viral infection', Nature Communications, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35281-7
    Journal articles | 2022
    Gao Y; Cai C; Grifoni A; Müller TR; Niessl J; Olofsson A; Humbert M; Hansson L; Österborg A; Bergman P; Chen P; Olsson A; Sandberg JK; Weiskopf D; Price DA; Ljunggren H-G; Karlsson AC; Sette A; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2022, 'Ancestral SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells cross-recognize Omicron', Nature Medicine, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41591-022-00017-z
    Journal articles | 2022
    Gao Y; Cai C; Grifoni A; Müller TR; Niessl J; Olofsson A; Humbert M; Hansson L; Österborg A; Bergman P; Chen P; Olsson A; Sandberg JK; Weiskopf D; Price DA; Ljunggren HG; Karlsson AC; Sette A; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2022, 'Ancestral SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells cross-recognize the Omicron variant', Nature Medicine, 28, pp. 472 - 476, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01700-x
    Journal articles | 2022
    Gao Y; Cai C; Wullimann D; Niessl J; Rivera-Ballesteros O; Chen P; Lange J; Cuapio A; Blennow O; Hansson L; Mielke S; Nowak P; Vesterbacka J; Akber M; Perez-Potti A; Sekine T; Müller TR; Boulouis C; Kammann T; Parrot T; Muvva JR; Sobkowiak M; Healy K; Bogdanovic G; Muschiol S; Söderdahl G; Österborg A; Hellgren F; Grifoni A; Weiskopf D; Sette A; Loré K; Sällberg Chen M; Ljungman P; Sandberg JK; Smith CIE; Bergman P; Ljunggren HG; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2022, 'Immunodeficiency syndromes differentially impact the functional profile of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells elicited by mRNA vaccination', Immunity, 55, pp. 1732 - 1746.e5, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2022.07.005
    Journal articles | 2021
    Micklethwaite KP; Gowrishankar K; Gloss BS; Li Z; Street JA; Moezzi L; Mach MA; Sutrave G; Clancy LE; Bishop DC; Louie RHY; Cai C; Foox J; MacKay M; Sedlazeck FJ; Blombery P; Mason CE; Luciani F; Gottlieb DJ; Blyth E, 2021, 'Investigation of product-derived lymphoma following infusion of piggyBac-modified CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T cells', Blood, 138, pp. 1391 - 1405, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021010858
    Journal articles | 2021
    Zhao Y; Cai C; Samir J; Palgen JL; Keoshkerian E; Li H; Bull RA; Luciani F; An H; Lloyd AR, 2021, 'Human CD8 T-stem cell memory subsets phenotypic and functional characterization are defined by expression of CD122 or CXCR3', European Journal of Immunology, 51, pp. 1732 - 1747, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/eji.202049057
    Journal articles | 2018
    Pischel D; Sundmacher K; Flassig RJ, 2018, 'Efficient simulation of intrinsic, extrinsic and external noise in biochemical systems.', Bioinformatics, 34, pp. 2880, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/bty171
    Journal articles | 2018
    Rizzetto S; Koppstein DNP; Samir J; Singh M; Reed JH; Cai CH; Lloyd AR; Eltahla AA; Goodnow CC; Luciani F, 2018, 'B-cell receptor reconstruction from single-cell RNA-seq with VDJPuzzle', Bioinformatics, 34, pp. 2846 - 2847, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/BIOINFORMATICS/BTY171
    Journal articles | 2015
    Yagoub D; Tay AP; Chen Z; Hamey JJ; Cai C; Chia SZ; Hart-Smith G; Wilkins MR, 2015, 'Proteogenomic Discovery of a Small, Novel Protein in Yeast Reveals a Strategy for the Detection of Unannotated Short Open Reading Frames', Journal of Proteome Research, 14, pp. 5038 - 5047, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.5b00734
  • Preprints | 2024
    Buggert M; Gao Y; Cai C; Adamo S; Biteus E; Kamal H; Dager L; Miners K; Llewellyn-Lacey S; Ladell K; Sabberwal P; Bentley K; Wu J; Akhirunnesa M; Jones S; Julin P; Lidman C; Stanton R; Davies H; Aleman S; Price D; Goepfert P; Deeks S; Peluso M, 2024, Identification of soluble biomarkers that associate with distinct manifestations of long COVID, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4466781/v1
    Conference Abstracts | 2024
    Louie RY; Samir J; Cai C; McGuire H; Amos T; Fergsuson J; Deveson I; Adikari T; Bonomi M; Bishop D; Mason CE; Balderas R; Ruella M; Singh M; Gottlieb D; Blyth E; Micklethwaite K; Luciani F, 2024, 'Abstract 882: Harnessing single cell multi-omics data to identify predictors of clinical outcome in CD19 CAR T cell therapy', in Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Vol. 84, pp. 882 - 882, http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.am2024-882
    Preprints | 2023
    Buggert M; Cai C; Gao Y; Ballesteros OR; Hansson L; Österborg A; Sandberg J; Ljunggren H-G; Björkström N; Strålin K; Qin C; Grifoni A; Weiskopf D; Wherry E; Sette A; Aleman S, 2023, Booster mRNA vaccination post-SARS-CoV-2 infection enhances functional qualities of T cell immunity, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2587292/v1
    Preprints | 2022
    Gao Y; Cai C; Grifoni A; Müller T; Niessl J; Olofsson A; Humbert M; Hansson L; Österborg A; Bergman P; Chen P; Olsson A; Sandberg JK; Weiskopf D; Price DA; Ljunggren H-G; Karlsson AC; Sette A; Aleman S; Buggert M, 2022, Ancestral SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells cross-recognize Omicron (B.1.1.529), http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1217466/v1
    Preprints | 2022
    Louie R; Cai C; Singh M; Deveson I; Ferguson J; Amos T; McGuire H; Samir J; Gowrishankar K; Adikari T; Balderas R; Bishop D; Gottlieb D; Blyth E; Micklethwaite K; Luciani F, 2022, CAR+ and CAR- T cells differentiate into an NK-like subset that is associated with increased inflammatory cytokines following infusion, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1495587/v1
    Preprints | 2022
    Louie RHY; Cai C; Singh M; Deveson I; Ferguson J; Amos T; McGuire HM; Samir J; Gowrishankar K; Adikari T; Balderas R; Bishop D; Gottlieb D; Blyth E; Micklethwaite K; Luciani F, 2022, CAR+ and CAR- T cells differentiate into an NK-like subset that is associated with increased inflammatory cytokines following infusion, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.29.22273013
    Preprints | 2021
    Cai C; Samir J; Pirozyan M; Adikari T; Gupta M; Leung P; Hughes B; Van der Byl W; Rizzetto S; Elthala A; Keoshkerian E; Palgen J-L; Peters T; Nguyen T; Louie R; Kedzierska K; Gaudieri S; Bull R; Lloyd A; Luciani F, 2021, Single cell multi-omics reveals early elevated function and multiple fates within human progenitor exhausted CD8+ T cells, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.09.459584
    Conference Papers | 2019
    Zhao Y; Keoshkerian E; Cai C; Bull R; Luciani F; An H; Lloyd A, 2019, 'Characterising antigen-specific CD8 T memory stem cells in human viral infections', in EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY, WILEY, PEOPLES R CHINA, Beijing, pp. 716 - 717, presented at 17th International Congress of Immunology of the International-Union-of-Immunological-Societies (IUIS), PEOPLES R CHINA, Beijing, 19 October 2019 - 23 October 2019
    Preprints | 2017
    Rizzetto S; Koppstein DNP; Samir J; Singh M; Reed J; Cai C; Lloyd A; Eltahla A; Goodnow C; Luciani F, 2017, B-cell receptor reconstruction from single-cell RNA-seq with VDJPuzzle, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/181156

NHMRC EL1 Investigator Grant (2026)