Phil Stumbles

Phil is a Research Fellow in the Experimental Immunology Research Team and Program Head of the Immunity and Inflammation program and the Telethon Kids Institute. He is also an Associate Professor in Pathology at Murdoch University, where he holds a tenured academic teaching position. He completed his PhD in immunology in 1994 at Murdoch University and has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Oxford, University of Western Australia and Telethon Kids Institute.

His research is focused on understanding the regulation of immune defence mechanisms in the lungs, including the role of respiratory dendritic cells in regulating immunological tolerance, the pathogenesis of allergic inflammatory disorders such as allergic asthma, and in protection against, and recovery from, respiratory viral infections including influenza A virus.  As part of the Early Environment Research Focus Area at Telethon Kids Institute, and in collaboration with A/Prof Deb Strickland, he also has interests in developing new approaches strategies for enhancing and restoring immune tolerance in early life as an approach to boosting respiratory defence mechanisms to provide enhanced anti-viral defence and prevent damaging inflammatory responses.