Dunbar Lab

Group

Hello and welcome to the Dunbar Lab’s webpages. Thanks for visiting!

Our lab at the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences was founded in 2002 when Rod returned from 6 years post-doctoral research in Oxford. It was the first lab in Auckland to focus on human cellular immunology, and continues to grow year on year. It’s helped train a number of outstanding researchers, including alumnae Dr Kate Angel, Dr Billy (Hilary) Sheppard, and Dr Anna Brooks, whose labs you can find described on other pages of the University’s website.

Through the tabs shown above you’ll find bios and contact details of current staff and students, some descriptions of current research programmes, and links out to published work. You’ll also find some contact details for industry organisations interested in contracting research services from the lab. The site currently contains skeletal information, but we will flesh it out through 2024, so do check in from time to time.

Research

The lab is primarily concerned with human cellular immunology and cell biology.

Our interest in T cell function in cancer led to programmes to develop cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell therapy, and drugs to block immunosuppressive pathways.

Characterisation of T cells in human tissues led to a broader programme examining the structure and function of lymphoid tissue, especially as they relate to T cell interactions with myeloid cells and stromal cells.

The lab’s extensive experience with primary human cell culture led to a programme in tissue engineering, focused especially on 3D skin models and recently tumour models. All of this work is informed by studies of human tissue, combining tissue imaging, flow cytometry, transcriptomics and functional assays.

Projects



lnternational

Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Donec velit neque

View



National

Mauris blandit aliquet elit, eget tincidunt nibh pulvinar a. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Donec velit neque

View