Working groups
Awarded her PhD at Monash University, Professor Tachedjian received an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral studies at Columbia University in New York with Professor Stephen Goff on retroviral replication.
In 2002, Professor Tachedjian was recruited to Burnet Institute. She was awarded an NHMRC RD Wright Career Development Award in 2003 and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship’s in 2009 and in 2017.
Professor Tachedjian is a virologist combining interdisciplinary basic, translational and clinical research to identify and develop effective drug-based strategies to prevent and control emerging pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). She has made major contributions to HIV reverse transcriptase, antivirals, drug resistance, and HIV prevention research including advancing understanding of the role of the vaginal microbiome in modulating HIV acquisition in women. Professor Tachedjian was awarded the Fenner Prize in 2012 by the Australian Society for Microbiology for her distinguished contributions to research in Microbiology and received the Burnet Fenner Award in the same year for significant contributions to Burnet’s vision and mission in the area of medical research.
Professor Tachedjian’s current areas of interest include:
1. Discovering a new drug class for HIV treatment and prevention using fragment-based drug design
2. Defining the role of the vaginal microbiome and their metabolites in modulating adverse sexual (i.e. HIV) and reproductive health outcomes
3. Characterising viruses that circulate in bats and the role of their unique antiviral factors in controlling viruses that cause disease in humans and other species.
Major research findings include discovering that a metabolite produced by optimal vaginal microbiota has potent HIV virucidal activity and immunobiological effects on cervicovaginal epithelial cells that could explain in part why optimal vaginal lactobacilli are associated with decreased susceptibility to HIV (US Patent awarded in 2017).
Discovered new building blocks for drugs that target the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase by mechanisms distinct to antiretrovirals used for HIV treatment and prevention as well as mutations in HIV reverse transcriptase that confer resistance to antiretroviral drugs which are incorporated in genotyping algorithms for predicting HIV drug resistance and guiding HIV therapy.
Discovered the first replication competent retrovirus related to koala retrovirus (KoRV) circulating in bats that are significant reservoirs for deadly zoonotic viruses. Discovered novel bat variants of major classes of host antiviral genes, tetherin and APOBEC3, that are more numerous and diverse of any mammal reported to date.
Played major roles in the preclinical development of microbicides to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and HSV and the completion of a phase I clinical study (SPL7013-003) to determine the retention of the dendrimer microbicide VivaGel after vaginal dosing in healthy women. The dendrimer is now on the market as an antiviral condom coating to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
Professor Tachedjian developed a yeast two-hybrid assay for studying the interaction between the two subunits of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) enzyme, which was patented. This led to the discovery that potent nonnucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) enhance reverse transcriptase subunit interaction that can unexpectedly affect the late stages of HIV replication by prematurely activating the HIV protease enzyme. This pivotal discovery has underpinned the development, by Pharma, of a novel class of compounds to eliminate CD4+ T cells expressing HIV-1 by a direct killing mechanism.
2021 (5)
2020 (1)
Covid-19 Global Trends and Analysis - Volume 2: SARS-CoV-2 viral load dynamics and infectivity. Tachedjian G, Hearps A, Majumdar S, Toole M, Umali S. Know-C19 Burnet Institute. December, 2020.
Archives of Virology
Gilda Tachedjian
Journal of Virology
Robson Kriiger Loterio, Heidi E. Drummer, Gilda Tachedjian, Johanna E. Fraser
Research Square (Research Square)
Catherine L Latham, Muriel Aldunate, David Tyssen, Adam Johnson, Joshua A. Hayward, Rob J. Center, Paul A. Ramsland, Anna C. Hearps, Gilda Tachedjian, Muriel Aldunate
We’ve discovered Hervey pteropid gammaretrovirus, the first replication competent retrovirus circulating in Australian fruit bats, suggesting that bats can deal with multiple viral threats.
We investigate how a factor produced by optimal microbiota augments the cervicovaginal mucosal barrier to prevent HIV acquisition.
The vaginal microbiome is a key determinant of a women’s sexual and reproductive health. There is an unmet need for effective non-antibiotic-based strategies to target bacterial vaginosis and its adverse sequelae.