Infection and Immunity
Episodes
The Future We Could Have
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script Episode 5: The Future We Could Have Off Script is brought to you by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. Episode Summary In...
Global Health Equity
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script Episode 4: Global Health Equity Off Script is brought to you by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. Episode Summary The CO...
The mRNA Revolution
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script Episode 3: The mRNA Revolution Off Script is brought to you by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. Episode Summary mRNA te...
Australia's Moonshot
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script Episode 2: Australia's Moonshot Off Script is brought to you by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. Episode Summary Austr...
The Missing Piece
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script Episode 1 – The Missing Piece Off Script is brought to you by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics. Episode Summary: ...
Coming soon: A podcast from the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics with Dr Matt Agnew
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Off Script is a podcast hosted by science communicator Dr. Matt Agnew and produced by the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics, part o...
The A to E of Hepatitis - what you need to know
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
World Hepatitis Day, observed annually on 28 July, is just around the corner and aims to raise awareness of the virus that’s responsible for more th...
Diagnosis and treatment of Long COVID
20 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Post infection disease is a term that has become more familiar to many more of us following the COVID-19 pandemic. How do we diagnose and treat post i...
When should I get my COVID-19 booster?
06 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With COVID-19 being described as an endemic infection, we are now very much living with the virus. As we approach the Winter months in Australia, wher...
Why clinical trials are vital for developing new vaccines and therapeutics
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Monday, 20 May marked International Clinical Trials Day, which recognises the anniversary of the first controlled clinical trial conducted back in 174...
Influenza B breakthrough: promising targets for vaccine development
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Influenza B viruses are often overlooked but can cause significant illness and mortality, especially in children. Little is known about how the immune...
How the immune system works with Peter Doherty
25 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Does your immune system remember viruses you've previously been infected with? Do your genetics play a role in your immune system? Can you boost immun...
Here’s what you need to know about flu season 2024
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re just a couple of weeks away from May, which marks the official start of the influenza season in Australia. So what can we expect from the upco...
Australia's first volunteer infection study facility
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week Doherty Clinical Trials Ltd, Australia’s first purpose-built facility specifically commissioned to deliver volunteer infection studies, wa...
A brief history of vaccine development
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From protecting local communities to safeguarding global health, vaccines have been transforming public health for over 200 years. According to the Wo...
Measles cases are on the rise globally. Should we be concerned?
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite being vaccine-preventable, outbreaks of measles are currently occurring in every region of the world, with many countries reporting their firs...
How machine learning pinpoints origin of Legionnaires’ disease
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Legionnaires’ disease made headlines in Australia at the beginning of the year due to an outbreak of the lung infection in Sydney’s city centre. F...
Buruli ulcer part two: a diagnosis and advocating for change
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Numbers of Buruli ulcer cases have been increasing to between 200-340 cases per year since 2017, with 363 cases diagnosed in Victoria during 2023 alon...
Buruli ulcer part one: 80 year-long transmission mystery solved
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The debilitating ‘flesh-eating’ infection that is Buruli ulcer has captivated Victorians in particular over the last 10 years or so, due to its in...
Avian influenza (H5N1): why are experts concerned about the virus reaching Antarctica?
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While much of our attention has been on COVID-19 over the last few years, another pandemic has reeked havoc on more than 200 species of wild birds. Th...
Life As We Knew It: the extraordinary story of Australia’s pandemic
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're joined by multi-award winning journalists, Aisha Dow and Melissa Cunningham, to chat about their new book Life As We Knew It. The book tells the...
Melbourne-made covid vaccines show robust potential for boosters
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a major coup for the Doherty Institute and the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, our two COVID-19 vaccines went head to head in a Phase ...
Autoimmune skin conditions could be treated by targeting t cells
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our immune system is made up of many types of cells. Many people will have heard of T cells that fight infection, but did you know there are many diff...
What is antimicrobial resistance and how can we help prevent it?
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Antimicrobial resistance has consistently been named by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 global health threats, with current estimat...
Is the COVID-19 pandemic over?
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As 2023 draws to a close, almost four years on since the first case of COVID-19 was diagnosed, we continue to see cases and have adjusted to living wi...
BONUS EPISODE: Lessons from HIV: strengths and weaknesses in the response to COVID-19
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Laureate Professor Francoise Barre-Sinoussi shares her insight and experience of the HIV pandemic, reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of the res...
BONUS EPISODE: What is the evidence telling us about Omicron?
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
How severe is Omicron? How is easily is it transmitted? How do our vaccines fair against this new variant?In this bonus episode of Doherty Institute D...
What did we learn from another year of COVID-19?
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What does the Director of the Doherty Institute have to say after another year of battling COVID-19?In our final episode of the season we are joined b...
World AIDS Day: Where are we at 40 years after the first clinical diagnosis?
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Wednesday, 1 December is Worlds AIDS Day, with the 2021 edition marking 40 years since the first cases of AIDS-defining illnesses were first clinicall...
BONUS EP: Latest Doherty Institute modelling explained
12 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last Friday the Doherty-led modelling consortium presented their final report to National Cabinet. What does the latest report tell us? And what have ...
What does the evidence tell us about COVID-19 vaccine boosters?
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As of Monday, 8 November, Australians over 18 who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine at least six months ago, are now eligible for a third ...
Growing and sharing the virus that changed the world
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
COVID-19 research has come a long way since the beginning of 2020, but what initial steps where taken to prepare for the emergence of this new virus? ...
BONUS EP: Kids, COVID-19 and vaccines
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In late September, we held an event online called COVID-19 vaccines – your questions answered Part 2with the aim of getting our experts to answer as...
Working on Victoria's COVID wards
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Have you wondered what it must be like working on the frontline in Victoria's COVID wards during the pandemic?In this episode of , we're taken on that...
BONUS EP: Doherty Institute modelling sensitivity analysis
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Following the release of the Technical Report and Addendum to National Cabinet on 10 August, the Doherty Institute-led modelling consortium was asked ...
Optimise Study: vaccination knowledge, attitudes and beliefs
17 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australians are now coming out in droves to get their COVID-19 vaccines as we strive towards the double dose targets that will allow us more freedoms ...
Global vaccine equity
03 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Global Dashboard for Vaccine Equity developed by the United Nations Development Programme has Australia on par with high income countries, with 56...
What does the evidence tell us about COVID-19 rapid antigen tests?
20 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The use of antigen tests has been publicly debated since the beginning of the pandemic. But what is the latest official advise for their use in Austra...
BONUS EP: Doherty Institute modelling
09 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last week, Doherty Institute Director of Epidemiology, Professor Jodie McVernon joined Prime Minister Scott Morrison in presenting the modelling that ...
Peter Doherty - An Insider's Plague Year
06 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome back the Patron and Namesake of the Doherty Institute, Laureate Professor Peter Doherty. It’s been a big week for Peter with the launch o...
Exploring airborne COVID-19 transmission in hospital
23 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode in our series on COVID-19 the virus, variants and vaccines we are chatting with Professor Kirsty Buising, Royal Melbourne Hospital Inf...
2020 - A year like no other
16 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we published the Doherty Institute’s 2020 Impact Report, which highlights our research, clinical, public health and teaching successes th...
The power of science communication during a pandemic
09 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sonya Pemberton is my guest. Sonya is an Emmy-award winning filmmaker - she won an Emmy Award in 2012 and has won the Eureka Award for Science Journal...
Diving into wastewater testing for disease surveillance
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re going to take a deep dive into wastewater testing for COVID-19 surveillance – it’s origins, why it’s used and exactly what it can tell u...
Melbourne Knowledge Week Pandemic proofing the future
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How could Australia be better prepared to respond to future pandemics?Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the strongest an...
Checking in with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We check in with Laureate Professor Peter Doherty to find out how he's doing through Melbourne's lockdown, whether he made it to Dan Murphy's before i...
Getting back to zero - analysing Melbourne's outbreak
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We speak with Dr Katherine Gibney, infectious diseases clinician, public health physician and medical epidemiologist about the decision to extend Vict...
COVID-19 vaccine immunity
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we chat with Dr Jennifer Juno, a Senior Research fellow at the Doherty Institute about what happens to your immune system when vaccin...
COVID-19 vaccines: Mixed schedules, booster shots and the Australian rollout
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We speak with Professor Terry Nolan, Head of the Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group at the Doherty Institute and Murdoch Children's Research Inst...
101 on genomic sequencing and the B.1.617 variant
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been widely publicised that the variant of SARS-CoV-2 associated with Melbourne’s outbreak is the B.1.617, the so-called ‘Indian’ variant...
Managing our mental health during a pandemic
29 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are taking a step outside of our infection and immunity bubble to talk about mental health. Our guest is Dr Grant Blashki - he is a GP, lead clinic...
Yes, Victoria needed a circuit breaker
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We speak with Director of Doherty Epidemiology, Professor Jodie McVernon, picking her brains about what's happening in Melbourne right now - she analy...
BONUS EP: Australian Institute of Infectious Disease
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Victorian Government has announced they will commit an additional $245 million to fund the construction of the Australian Institute for Infectious...
COVID-19 Treatments Part 2 - The Indian experience
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this special two-part episode, we explore the role of COVID-19 treatments in the pandemic.From the very beginning, vaccines have been touted as the...
COVID-19 Treatments Part 1 - The Australian experience
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this special two-part episode, we explore the role of COVID-19 treatments in the pandemic.From the very beginning, vaccines have been touted as the...
How do we increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines?
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia has seen a waning willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccines, dropping from around 75 per cent late last year to around 60 per cent in February...
Flu and COVID-19 - what to expect this winter
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Kanta Subbarao is the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at the Doherty Institute. A virologis...
Victorian COVID-19 vaccine rollout
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Usually Ben is the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis at the Doherty Institute, and an infectious diseases clinician at the ...
Leftover questions from our COVID-19 vaccines Q&A event
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
While our regular season is fortnightly, we are releasing this special episode today because of the timeliness of the topic. Doherty Institute Directo...
Laureate Professor Peter Doherty
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Laureate Professor Peter Doherty talks COVID-19 vaccines, the importance of science communication and how he spent 2020.We want to hear from you! Help...
Trailer: Infection and Immunity - Evidence Explained
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are super excited to launch our Doherty Institute podcast, Infection and Immunity - Evidence Explained.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...