Research Activities

Dr Sidonia Eckle graduated with a BSc in Biochemistry from the Technical University of Munich in 2006, with a MSc in Molecular Cell Biology from Uppsala University and the Karolinska Institute in 2007, and with a PhD in Immunology under Professor James McCluskey from The University of Melbourne in 2013. Since 2019 she has been a Group Leader as part of the MAIT cell program, headed by James. Her research, at the cross-roads of cellular immunology and biochemistry, focuses on understanding the role of MAIT cells in infectious diseases and allergies and on developing MAIT-cell based therapies and vaccines.

As part of a multidisciplinary effort, Sidonia played a pivotal role in identifying the activating ligands of MAIT cells (Nature 2014). Capitalising on this knowledge, Sidonia was also key in generating MR1-tetramers, analytical tools which specifically identify MAIT cells. These discoveries have opened up the MAIT cell field. Sidonia has contributed over 35 articles to the field of MAIT cells and T cell immunology in general, cited more than 2,800 times (Scopus 2021) and is a co-inventor of two patents. Sidonia was previously an ARC DECRA Fellow, is currently an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow and holds a project grant from the NHMRC.

Research Keywords

Researching in the following areas: Antigen presentation, Antigen recognition, T cell receptor, T cells