Deborah Strickland

Associate Prof Strickland completed her PhD at the University of WA in the regulation of immune homeostatic processes in the respiratory tract. She received a prestigious Elizabeth Albeiz Fellowship (Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia) for post-doctoral studies at the Centenary Institute, Sydney.

Following this, her postdoctoral work focused on establishing an independent program of research to explore the pathogenic mechanisms associated with risk for allergic asthma inception and progression, particularly during early life. In parallel, she has established a complimentary research program to explore how inflammatory responses that occur in the mother during gestation can perturb the developing fetal immune system to result in increased risk for a range of diseases (including respiratory, metabolic, and neurological systems) in later life.

Her research program is targeted towards addressing key fundamental gaps in the understanding of immune development, homeostatic mechanisms and how the immune system can be programmed to drive increased disease susceptibility, or trained to mitigate disease risk, with the overarching goal of developing potential preventive strategies. Her current positions are as Team Leader Experimental Immunology, Athena Swan Chair, Early Environment Research Focus Area chair, Adjunct Assoc Prof UWA.