Laura K. Mackay, PhD, Professor, Laboratory Head, Theme Leader in Immunology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne , Australia
Professor Laura Mackay has been selected as the 2024 ICIS-Luminex John R. Kettman Award for Excellence in Cytokine & Interferon Research in recognition for her outstanding work on memory T cell populations and the cytokines that control them. Professor Mackay’s discoveries have resulted in dramatic paradigm shifts and have contributed enormously to the T cell field, spawning a new focus on tissue immunity. Her accomplishments are shaping and redefining how we understand cellular immune responses and have driven a new field of T cell immunology. These accomplishments indeed far exceed her designated “mid-career” stage.
2024 ICIS-Luminex John R. Kettman Award Presentation
Professor Laura Mackay will give her ICIS-Luminex Award Presentation at Cytokines 2024 Joint Meeting KAI 2024 at the COEX Conference Center in Seoul, Korea “Regulation of tissue-specific immune-responses”.
Immune memory manifests as an enhanced control of pathogens when the body is exposed to them for a second time. Prior to her contribution to the field, it was erroneously accepted that immune memory was exclusively controlled by elements found in the blood. Professor Mackay demonstrated that this is not the case. As a result of her work, the modern understanding is that T cells in tissues of the body, such as the gut and skin are instrumental for pathogen control. She defined a new population of T cells that are permanently resident at body surfaces. Her research showed that these tissue-embedded cells were distinct from populations of T cells found in the blood, and critically that these tissue-resident T cells provide a dominant first line of defense against infections and her work highlighted the prominent role of cytokines, most notably TGF and IL-15 in the biology of these populations (eg Immunity 2015, Nature Immunology 2021, 2022). Most recently, Professor Mackay has shown that these tissue-resident T cells are also critical in the fight against cancer. Whilst traditional interventions against cancer include radiation and chemotherapy, there is now huge momentum in the use of our own immune system as cancer treatment and the field of T cell immunotherapy is demonstrating remarkable clinical successes.
Professor Mackay’s recent work showed that tissue-resident T cells are key for preventing melanoma tumours from growing, and that these T cells are significantly associated with improved outcomes for patients with breast cancer. Her discoveries have resulted in dramatic paradigm shifts and have contributed enormously to the T cell field, spawning a new focus on tissue immunity. As such, her work has been published in the top peer-reviewed journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Immunity, PNAS and others. Her work is not simply being “published” in these top journals – she is actually shaping and redefining how we understand cellular immune responses and has driven a new field of T cell immunology.
Consistent with Professor Mackay’s capacity to drive original research and produce top-quality papers, is her outstanding record of grant success. Her awards include the Gottschalk Medal (Australian Academy of Science), The Michelson Prize (3 awarded internationally), and she was appointed as a Howard Hughes Institute Investigator – an extremely competitive award given to only the most outstanding of international applicants. On top of her direct success, Professor Mackay has established a range of productive collaborations including partnerships in Asia, where she holds an adjunct appointment (A*STAR, Singapore) and those with clinicians and oncologists. Her scientific recognition is clearly shown by her appointment on Strategic Advisory Boards (including a HIV program in Africa led by Harvard/MIT), organization of international meetings and her appointment on Editorial Boards (such as for the high-profile journal Science Immunology). Further, Professor Mackay was recently appointed as The President of FIMSA (The Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia-Oceania). This organization spans 16 countries representing thousands of researchers (e.g. China, Japan). The Executive Board of FIMSA comprises the leaders of immunological societies within FIMSA-member countries – whom together, voted for her to lead as the Global President of this Organization.
It is well known that infectious disease and cancer are leading causes of global mortality. Laura’s work on understanding T cells will help to change our approach on dealing with these health issues. Professor Mackay’s work defined that these tissue-resident immune cells are a unique and protective immune subset. She showed tissue-resident T cells provide immediate protection against infection and that improving immunity via the induction of T cells in tissues has huge therapeutic potential for vaccine design. Critically, she also showed the clinical benefit of tissue resident T cells in cancer patients, where their presence correlated with improved survival rates. Her scientific advances have most certainly contributed to new vaccines designed to incorporate tissue-resident T cells in Phase 1 clinical trials (e.g. Malaria, HIV) and pharmaceutical investment in targeting tissue T cells as an anti-cancer strategy. There is an enormous drive to translate basic discovery research on tissue T cells into new immunotherapies and Professor Mackay is at the forefront of this. The potential of Professor Mackay’s work has been recognized by Pfizer, whom headhunted her after seeing her present her work. This has resulted in a $4 million investment from Pfizer US into Professor Mackay’s discovery research program, also providing her with unique access to new therapeutics (compounds that can promote immunity). As a pioneer in the field, Professor Mackay has drawn together experts in immunology, immunotherapy and oncology to guarantee the maximum public benefit from her work driving fundamental new discoveries and paradigms in cancer immune biology to better patient outcomes.
