Background

Brianna has been based at the Burnet Institute since 2018, where she first completed her Bachelor of Science (Honours), with her research project titled ‘the antiviral activity of bat APOBEC3 proteins’. Following the completion of her Honours she worked jointly as a research assistant with the Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Laboratory and the Viral Entry and Vaccines Laboratory.

Brianna commenced her PhD in 2020 at the Burnet through Monash University. She is interested in the prevention of diseases that are endemic in developing nations such as HIV, through combining her areas of interest in microbiology, immunology and international development. Her project is titled ‘the impact of the vaginal environment on epithelial barrier function and HIV susceptibility’. This project aims to determine the impact of the vaginal environment on epithelial barrier function and the implications for HIV susceptibility by investigating the modulation of signalling pathways, gene expression and protein production by estrogen and metabolic products of commensal bacteria in the female reproductive tract.

Appointments

• 2022: Student Representative, Burnet Institute

Positions

• 2019: Research Assistant, Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Laboratory and the Viral Entry and Vaccines Laboratory, Burnet Institute, Melbourne.

Qualifications

• 2018: Bachelor of Science (Honours), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• 2017: Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts (Global), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Projects (1)

Current (1)

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  Impact of a vaginal microbiota metabolite on epithelium integrity and HIV susceptibility

Publications (2)

2022 (1)

• Lactic acid from vaginal microbiota enhances cervicovaginal epithelial barrier integrity by promoting tight junction protein expression.
  Delgado-Diaz DJ, Jesaveluk B, Hayward JA, Tyssen D, Alisoltani A, Potgieter M, Bell L, Ross E, Iranzadeh A, Allali I, Dabee S, Barnabas S, Gamieldien H, Blackburn JM, Mulder N, Smith SB, Edwards VL, Burgener AD, Bekker LG, Ravel J, Passmore JS, Masson L, Hearps AC, Tachedjian G
  Microbiome. 2022 Aug; 10(1):141

2020 (1)

• Infectious KoRV-related retroviruses circulating in Australian bats.
  Hayward JA, Tachedjian M, Kohl C, Johnson A, Dearnley M, Jesaveluk B, Langer C, Solymosi PD, Hille G, Nitsche A, Sánchez CA, Werner A, Kontos D, Crameri G, Marsh GA, Baker ML, Poumbourios P, Drummer HE, Holmes EC, Wang LF, Smith I, Tachedjian G
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Apr; 117(7):9529–9536

News Articles (4)

2022 (3)

• 2022 in Review: July to December
• A new way lactic acid can reduce a woman’s risk of getting an STI
• Burnet congratulates Jim and Margaret Beever Fellow and travel award recipients

2020 (1)

• New virus in bats linked to AIDS-like disease decimating koalas