Dr Melanie Walker

Qualifications: PhD

Bio: Dr Melanie Walker is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow in the Viral Immunology Systems Program (VISP) and a Lecturer (Education Focused) in Pathology, School of Biomedical Sciences at UNSW Sydney. Her research focuses on understanding protective antibody responses to viral infections, with the aim of informing the development of vaccines.

Melanie completed her PhD in Pathology at UNSW, where she investigated viral evolution, transmitted founder virus characteristics, and humoral immune responses during early hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. She then undertook a 5 year postdoctoral position at the University of Copenhagen, where she characterised human monoclonal antibody responses to Plasmodium falciparum malaria antigens and SARS-CoV-2.

Since returning to UNSW in 2023, Melanie has investigated immune responses to HCV, SARS-CoV-2 and other RNA viruses. Her research combines viral immunology, monoclonal antibody discovery, systems serology, bioinformatics and single-cell transcriptomics to understand protective immunity and inform vaccine development. She has contributed to NHMRC- (as CI-C) and MRFF- (as CI-D) funded research programs and has secured competitive CI-A funding through the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research and UNSW Triple I.

In addition to her research, Melanie is actively involved in undergraduate pathology education, where she convenes courses, develops innovative learning resources and authentic assessments, and contributes to curriculum

Phone

83180024

E-mail

melanie.walker@unsw.edu.au

Location

WW Lv5 532 E

Book Chapters | 2022

Walker MR; Barfod L, 2022, 'Production of PfEMP1-Specific Human Monoclonal Antibodies from Naturally Immune Individuals', in Methods in Molecular Biology, pp. 407 - 421, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2189-9_30
Journal articles | 2026

Wijaya R; Stoddart J; Adhikari A; Abayasingam A; Bartlett AW; Rawlinson W; Mina MM; Post JJ; Hudson B; Gilroy N; Konecny P; Ahlenstiel G; Martinello M; Lloyd AR; Tedla N; Bull RA; Walker MR, 2026, 'C3d Complement Activation and Antibody Immunity in Convalescent COVID-19: Insights From Adults and Children', Journal of Immunology Research, 2026, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/jimr/7429749

Journal articles | 2025

Bassi MR; Cristinoi B; Buitenwerf F; Cuadrado MB; Björnsson KH; Walker MR; Partey FD; Ward AB; Ofori MF; Barfod L, 2025, 'Deposition of complement regulators on the surface of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites depends on the immune status of the host', Plos Pathogens, 21, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013107

Journal articles | 2025

Dalgaard N; Olsen RW; Adams Y; Mendez BL; Rudbaek JJ; Bisholm SAG; Mousiliou A; Walker MR; Hviid L; Tahar R; Ndam NT; Barfod L; Jensen AR, 2025, 'A monoclonal antibody selectively recognizing PfEMP1 proteins associated with cerebral malaria', Scientific Reports, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18465-1

Journal articles | 2025

Jamali E; Quadeer AA; Tedla N; McKay MR; Lloyd A; Walker MR; Bull RA, 2025, 'Anti-HCV antibodies: A battle for breadth and potency', Antiviral Research, 238, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2025.106165

Journal articles | 2025

Walker MR; Leung P; Keoshkerian E; Pirozyan MR; Lloyd A; Luciani F; Bull RA, 2025, 'Temporal dynamics of viral fitness and the adaptive immune response in HCV infection', , 13, pp. rp102232, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.102232

Journal articles | 2025

Walker MR; Leung P; Keoshkerian E; Pirozyan MR; Lloyd A; Luciani F; Bull RA, 2025, 'Temporal dynamics of viral fitness and the adaptive immune response in HCV infection', , 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.102232.3

Journal articles | 2024

Harney BL; Sacks-Davis R; Agius P; van Santen DK; Traeger MW; Wilkinson AL; Asselin J; Fairley CK; Roth N; Bloch M; Matthews GV; Donovan B; Guy R; Stoové M; Hellard ME; Doyle JS; Aung HL; Baillie G; Bastian L; Bateson D; Boyd M; Carter A; Cogle A; Costello J; Dimech W; El-Hayek C; Ellard J; Franklin L; Hocking J; Kim J; Nguyen L; Nguyen T; Nolan D; O’Connor C; Patel P; Pendle S; Polkinghorne V; Reed P; Ryder N; Selvey C; Walker M; Watson N, 2024, 'Risk of Primary Incident Hepatitis C Infection Following Bacterial Sexually Transmissible Infections Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia From 2016 to 2020', Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofae099

Journal articles | 2024

Partey FD; Dowuona JNN; Pobee ANA; Walker MR; Aculley B; Prah DA; Ofori MF; Barfod LK, 2024, 'Atypical memory B cell frequency correlates with antibody breadth and function in malaria immune adults', Scientific Reports, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55206-2

Journal articles | 2024

Underwood AP; Gupta M; Wu BR; Eltahla AA; Boo I; Wang JJ; Agapiou D; Abayasingam A; Reynaldi A; Keoshkerian E; Zhao Y; Brasher N; Walker MR; Bukh J; Maher L; Gordon T; Davenport MP; Luciani F; Drummer HE; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2024, 'B-cell characteristics define HCV reinfection outcome', Journal of Hepatology, 81, pp. 415 - 428, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2024.04.004

Journal articles | 2024

Walker MR; Underwood A; Björnsson KH; Raghavan SSR; Bassi MR; Binderup A; Pham LV; Ramirez S; Pinholt M; Dagil R; Knudsen AS; Idorn M; Soegaard M; Wang K; Ward AB; Salanti A; Bukh J; Barfod L, 2024, 'Broadly potent spike-specific human monoclonal antibodies inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineages', Communications Biology, 7, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06951-7

Journal articles | 2023

Heron JE; McManus H; Vickers T; Ryan K; Wright E; Carter A; Stoove M; Asselin J; Grulich A; Donovan B; Guy R; Varma R; Chen M; Ryder N; Lewis DA; Templeton DJ; O’Connor CC; Gracey DM; Bastian L; Bateson D; Bowden S; Boyd M; Callander D; Aung HL; Cogle A; Costello J; Dimech W; Dittmer J; El-Hayek C; Ellard J; Fairley C; Franklin L; Hellard M; Hocking J; Kim J; McGill S; Nolan D; Patel P; Pendle S; Polkinghorne V; Nguyen L; Nguyen T; Reed P; Roth N; Selvey C; Traeger M; Walker M; West M, 2023, 'Renal impairment associated with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for antiretroviral therapy and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: An observational cohort study', Plos One, 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280339

Journal articles | 2023

Kaptoge S; Seshasai SRK; Sun L; Walker M; Bolton T; Spackman S; Ataklte F; Willeit P; Bell S; Burgess S; Pennells L; Altay S; Assmann G; Ben-Shlomo Y; Best LG; Björkelund C; Blazer DG; Brenner H; Brunner EJ; Dagenais GR; Cooper JA; Cooper C; Crespo CJ; Cushman M; D'Agostino RB; Daimon M; Daniels LB; Danker R; Davidson KW; de Jongh RT; Donfrancesco C; Ducimetiere P; Elders PJM; Engström G; Ford I; Gallacher I; Bakker SJL; Goldbourt U; de La Cámara G; Grimsgaard S; Gudnason V; Hansson PO; Imano H; Jukema JW; Kabrhel C; Kauhanen J; Kavousi M; Kiechl S; Knuiman MW; Kromhout D; Krumholz HM; Kuller LH; Laatikainen T; Lowler DA; Meyer HE; Mukamal K; Nietert PJ; Ninomiya T; Nitsch D; Nordestgaard BG; Palmieri L; Price JF; Ridker PM; Sun Q; Rosengren A; Roussel R; Sakurai M; Salomaa V; Schöttker B; Shaw JE; Strandberg TE; Sundström J; Tolonen H; Tverdal A; Verschuren WMM; Völzke H; Wagenknecht L; Wallace RB; Wannamethee SG; Wareham NJ; Wassertheil-Smoller S; Yamagishi K; Yeap BB; Harrison S; Inouye M; Griffin S; Butterworth AS; Wood AM; Thompson SG; Sattar N; Danesh J; Di Angelantonio E; Tipping RW; Russell S; Johansen M; Bancks MP; Mongraw-Chaffin M; Magliano D; Barr ELM; Zimmet PZ, 2023, 'Life expectancy associated with different ages at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in high-income countries: 23 million person-years of observation', Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, 11, pp. 731 - 742, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2213-8587(23)00223-1

Journal articles | 2023

Underwood AP; Gupta M; Wu B-R; Eltahla AA; Boo I; Wang JJ; Agapiou D; Abayasingam A; Reynaldi A; Keoshkerian E; Zhao Y; Brasher N; Walker MR; Bukh J; Maher L; Gordon T; Davenport M; Luciani F; Drummer HE; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2023, 'B Cell Signatures and Antibody Imprinting Define HCV Reinfection Outcome', , http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4418620

Journal articles | 2023

Walker MR; Idorn M; Bennett A; Søgaard M; Salanti A; Ditlev SB; Barfod L, 2023, 'Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 humoral immune response in a subject with unique sampling: A case report', Immunity Inflammation and Disease, 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/iid3.910

Journal articles | 2022

Knudsen AS; Walker MR; Agullet JP; Björnsson KH; Bassi MR; Barfod L, 2022, 'Enhancing neutralization of Plasmodium falciparum using a novel monoclonal antibody against the rhoptry-associated membrane antigen', Scientific Reports, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06921-1

Journal articles | 2022

Traeger MW; Guy R; Asselin J; Patel P; Carter A; Wright EJ; Grulich A; McManus H; Fairley CK; Chow EPF; McNulty A; Finlayson R; Bell C; Owen L; Marshall L; Russell D; O'Donnell D; Donovan B; Hellard ME; Stoové MA; Bastian L; Bateson D; Bowden S; Boyd M; Callander D; Cogle A; Costello J; Dimech W; Dittmer J; El-Hayek C; Ellard J; Franklin L; Hocking J; Kim J; McGill S; Nolan D; Pendle S; Polkinghorne V; Nguyen L; Nguyen T; O'Connor C; Reed P; Roth N; Ryder N; Selvey C; Stoové M; Vickers T; Walker M; Watchirs-Smith L; West M, 2022, 'Real-world trends in incidence of bacterial sexually transmissible infections among gay and bisexual men using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in Australia following nationwide PrEP implementation: an analysis of sentinel surveillance data', Lancet Infectious Diseases, 22, pp. 1231 - 1241, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00175-X

Journal articles | 2022

Walker MR; Barfod L, 2022, 'Production of PfEMP1-Specific Human Monoclonal Antibodies from Naturally Immune Individuals', , 2470, pp. 407 - 421, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2189-9_30

Journal articles | 2022

Walker MR; Podlekareva D; Johnsen S; Leerhøy B; Fougeroux C; Søgaard M; Salanti A; Ditlev SB; Barfod L, 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 RBD-Specific Antibodies Induced Early in the Pandemic by Natural Infection and Vaccination Display Cross-Variant Binding and Inhibition', Viruses, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v14091861

Journal articles | 2021

Knudsen AS; Björnsson KH; Bassi MR; Walker MR; Kok A; Cristinoi B; Jensen AR; Barfod L, 2021, 'Strain-Dependent Inhibition of Erythrocyte Invasion by Monoclonal Antibodies Against Plasmodium falciparum CyRPA', Frontiers in Immunology, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.716305

Journal articles | 2020

Brasher NA; Eltahla AA; Underwood A; Boo I; Rizzetto S; Walker MR; Rodrigo C; Luciani F; Maher L; Drummer HE; Tedla N; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2020, 'B cell immunodominance in primary hepatitis C virus infection', Journal of Hepatology, 72, pp. 670 - 679, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2019.11.011

Journal articles | 2020

Mina M; Underwood A; Eltahla A; Wu BR; Walker MR; Bull RA; Lloyd AR, 2020, 'Anti-envelope antibody responses in highly exposed seronegative individuals may be associated with protection from HCV infection', Journal of Viral Hepatitis, 27, pp. 1012 - 1021, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvh.13339

Journal articles | 2020

Walker MR; Eltahla AA; Mina MM; Li H; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2020, 'Envelope-specific IgG3 and IgG1 responses are associated with clearance of acute hepatitis C virus infection', Viruses, 12, pp. 75, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12010075

Journal articles | 2020

Walker MR; Knudsen AS; Partey FD; Bassi MR; Frank AM; Castberg FC; Sarbah EW; Ofori MF; Hviid L; Barfod L, 2020, 'Acquisition and decay of IgM and IgG responses to merozoite antigens after Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Ghanaian children', Plos One, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243943

Journal articles | 2019

Keck ZY; Pierce BG; Lau P; Lu J; Wang Y; Underwood A; Bull RA; Prentoe J; Velázquez-Moctezuma R; Walker MR; Luciani F; Guest JD; Fauvelle C; Baumert TF; Bukh J; Lloyd AR; Foung SKH, 2019, 'Broadly neutralizing antibodies from an individual that naturally cleared multiple hepatitis c virus infections uncover molecular determinants for E2 targeting and vaccine design', Plos Pathogens, 15, pp. e1007772, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007772

Journal articles | 2019

Walker MR; Leung P; Eltahla AA; Underwood A; Abayasingam A; Brasher NA; Li H; Wu BR; Maher L; Luciani F; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2019, 'Clearance of hepatitis C virus is associated with early and potent but narrowly-directed, Envelope-specific antibodies', Scientific Reports, 9, pp. 13300, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49454-w

Journal articles | 2019

Wu BR; Eltahla AA; Keoshkerian E; Walker MR; Underwood A; Brasher NA; Agapiou D; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2019, 'A method for detecting hepatitis C envelope specific memory B cells from multiple genotypes using cocktail E2 tetramers', Journal of Immunological Methods, 472, pp. 65 - 74, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jim.2019.06.016

Journal articles | 2018

Underwood AP; Walker MR; Brasher NA; Eltahla AA; Maher L; Luciani F; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2018, 'Understanding the determinants of BnAb induction in acute HCV infection', Viruses, 10, pp. 659, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10110659

Journal articles | 2017

Mutanga O; Walker M, 2017, 'Exploration of the academic lives of students with disabilities at South African universities: Lecturers’ perspectives', African Journal of Disability, 6, pp. 316, http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ajod.v6i0.316

Journal articles | 2017

Rodrigo C; Walker MR; Leung P; Eltahla AA; Grebely J; Dore GJ; Applegate T; Page K; Dwivedi S; Bruneau J; Morris MD; Cox AL; Osburn W; Kim AY; Schinkel J; Shoukry NH; Lauer GM; Maher L; Hellard M; Prins M; Luciani F; Lloyd AR; Bull RA, 2017, 'Limited naturally occurring escape in broadly neutralizing antibody epitopes in hepatitis C glycoprotein E2 and constrained sequence usage in acute infection', Infection Genetics and Evolution, 49, pp. 88 - 96, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2017.01.006

Journal articles | 2016

Bull RA; Eltahla AA; Rodrigo C; Koekkoek SM; Walker M; Pirozyan MR; Betz-Stablein B; Toepfer A; Laird M; Oh S; Heiner C; Maher L; Schinkel J; Lloyd AR; Luciani F; Rasoli Pirozyan M, 2016, 'A method for near full-length amplification and sequencing for six hepatitis C virus genotypes', BMC Genomics, 17, pp. 247, http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-016-2575-8

Journal articles | 2016

Walker MR; Li H; Teutsch S; Betz-Stablein B; Luciani F; Lloyd AR; Bull RA; Dolan K; Maher L, 2016, 'Incident hepatitis c virus genotype distribution and multiple infection in australian prisons', Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 54, pp. 1855 - 1861, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00287-16

Journal articles | 2015

Bull RA; Leung P; Gaudieri S; Deshpande P; Cameron B; Walker M; Chopra A; Lloyd AR; Luciani F, 2015, 'Transmitted/Founder Viruses Rapidly Escape from CD8 ⁺ T Cell Responses in Acute Hepatitis C Virus Infection', Journal of Virology, 89, pp. 5478 - 5490, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jvi.03717-14

Journal articles | 2013

Albrechtsen A; Grarup N; Li Y; Sparsø T; Tian G; Cao H; Jiang T; Kim SY; Korneliussen T; Li Q; Nie C; Wu R; Skotte L; Morris AP; Ladenvall C; Cauchi S; Stančáková A; Andersen G; Astrup A; Banasik K; Bennett AJ; Bolund L; Charpentier G; Chen Y; Dekker JM; Doney ASF; Dorkhan M; Forsen T; Frayling TM; Groves CJ; Gui Y; Hallmans G; Hattersley AT; He K; Hitman GA; Holmkvist J; Huang S; Jiang H; Jin X; Justesen JM; Kristiansen K; Kuusisto J; Lajer M; Lantieri O; Li W; Liang H; Liao Q; Liu X; Ma T; Ma X; Manijak MP; Marre M; Mokrosiński J; Morris AD; Mu B; Nielsen AA; Nijpels G; Nilsson P; Palmer CNA; Rayner NW; Renström F; Ribel-Madsen R; Robertson N; Rolandsson O; Rossing P; Schwartz TW; Slagboom PE; Sterner M; D.E.S.I.R. Study Group ; Tang M; Tarnow L; the DIAGRAM Consortium ; Tuomi T; van’t Riet E; van Leeuwen N; Varga TV; Vestmar MA; Walker M; Wang B; Wang Y; Wu H; Xi F; Yengo L; Yu C; Zhang X; Zhang J; Zhang Q; Zhang W; Zheng H; Zhou Y; Altshuler D; ‘t Hart LM; Franks PW; Balkau B; Froguel P; McCarthy MI; Laakso M; Groop L; Christensen C; Brandslund I; Lauritzen T; Witte DR; Linneberg A; Jørgensen T; Hansen T; Wang J; Nielsen R; Pedersen O, 2013, 'Exome sequencing-driven discovery of coding polymorphisms associated with common metabolic phenotypes', Diabetologia, 56, pp. 298 - 310, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00125-012-2756-1
Conference Presentations | 2015

Leung P; Walker M; Rodrigo C; Eltahla A; Bull R; Lloyd A; Luciani F, 2015, 'A network approach for the identification of co-evolving mutations in Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in the context of immune escape against neutralizing antibody responses', presented at COMBINE Student Symposium, Sydney, Australia

Conference Presentations | 2015

Leung P; Walker M; Rodrigo C; Eltahla A; Bull R; Lloyd A; Luciani F, 2015, 'Identification of co-evolving mutations of the Hepatitis C virus in the context of immune escape against neutralizing antibody responses using a bioinformatics workflow', presented at 8th Australasian virology society meeting, Hunter Valley, Australia

Conference Presentations | 2015

Walker M; Leung P; Eltahla A; Rodrigo C; Luciani F; Foung S; Lloyd A; Bull R, 2015, 'Understanding the timing, breadth and potency of neutralising antibody responses against transmitted/founders', presented at 11th National Scientific Workshop of the Australian Center for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research, Hunter Valley, Australia

Conference Presentations | 2015

Walker M; Leung P; Rodrigo C; Eltahla A; Lloyd A; Foung S; Luciani F; Bull R, 2015, 'Characterizing neutralizing antibody responses targeting founder virus in early primary HCV infection with varying disease outcome', presented at International Symposium on Hepatitis C virus and related viruses, Strasbourg, France

Preprints |

Dalgaard N; Olsen RW; Adams Y; Mendez BL; Bisholm SAG; Rudbaek JJ; Mousiliou A; Walker MR; Hviid L; Tahar R; Ndam NT; Barfod L; Jensen AR, A monoclonal antibody selectively recognizing PfEMP1 proteins associated with cerebral malaria, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6252569/v1

Preprints |

Walker M; Underwood A; Raghavan SSR; Bassi M; Björnsson K; Binderup A; Pham L; Ramirez S; Pinholt M; Dagil R; Knudsen A; Idorn M; Søgaard M; Wang K; Salanti A; Bukh J; Barfod L, Novel, broad and potent spike-specific human monoclonal antibodies inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Omicron sub-lineages, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3062716/v1

Preprints |

Walker MR; Leung P; Keoshkerian E; Pirozyan MR; Lloyd AR; Luciani F; Bull RA, Temporal dynamics of viral fitness and the adaptive immune response in HCV infection, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2024.09.07.611784

MRFF (CI-D, $1,980,000.00, APP2035199). July 2024.

NHMRC Ideas grant (CI-C, $1,143,599.00, APP2020192). January 2023.

UNSW Triple I Seed grant (CI-A, $70,000). July 2024

Parse/Ramaciotti single cell grant (CI-A, $10,000). September 2025

Career Advancement Fund (CI-A, $10,000). August 2025

Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research Seed funding (CI-A, $10,000). July 2024

School of Biomedical (SBMS) Systems Immunology Initiative (SII) seed funding scheme (CI-A, $12,000). July 2023

Follow

Dr Melanie Walker

Follow me