Associate Professor Fernando Fonseca Guimaraes

Dr Fernando Fonseca Guimaraes leads the Translational innate immunotherapy group.
Researcher biography
I completed my doctoral degree as part of the International PhD Program at Institute Pasteur (Paris, France) in 2012. During my PhD, I laid strong foundations for my academic career and became a key researcher in the field of natural killer (NK) cell response to systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis in animal models and intensive care unit (ICU) patients. During my postdoctoral training at WEHI, I extend my knowledge in the areas of cancer immunoediting and immunotherapy under Prof. Nick Huntington mentorship. I attracted peer-reviewed funding as chief investigator: an NHMRC ECF Peter Doherty Fellowship, an NHMRC New Investigator Project Grant, a National Breast Cancer Foundation Fellowship, three Cure Cancer Australia (CCA) PdCCRS Project Grants, and US DoD Breast Cancer Breakthrough Award. I have an extensive track record of publications in top tier journals (total 83 papers since 2009 including 21 as first author, and 22 as corresponding author), and was awarded the 2019 Researcher of the Year by CCA, 2020 QLD Young Tall Poppy Science Award, a 2020 UQDI Rising Star Award and more recently a 2022 American Association of Immunology – Minority Award and a 2022 Frazer Institute Mentorship Award. My work in the identification of new regulators of optimal in vivo NK cell function has earned me peer recognition as an emerging leader in this field. My current projects as a group leader at the University of Queensland Frazer Institute aim to identify and translate the role of NK cells and develop novel immunotherapy approaches for different diseases.