June 2018
Our June Ambassador of the Month is Natkunam Ketheesan, Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England, Australia. Natkanum is a recent addition to our Immunopaedia team and has contributed to the Breaking news page. Thank you Natkunam for all your hard work
Name: Natkunam Ketheesan
Position: Professor in Biomedical Science
Research Institute: University of New England, Australia
Research interests: Investigating host-pathogen interactions in bacterial infections
Recent publications:
Sikder S,… Ketheesan N (2018). Group G streptococcus induces an autoimmune IL-17A/IFN-γ mediated carditis in the Lewis rat model of Rheumatic Heart Disease. Journal of Infectious Diseases.
Morris JL, … Ketheesan N (2016) Devlopment of a diet-induced murine model ofdiabetes featuring cardinal metabolic and pathophysiological abnormalities of type 2 diabetes. Biology Open; 5(8):1149-62.
Gorton D, … Ketheesan N (2016). Repeat exposure to group A streptococcal M protein exacerbates cardiac damage in a rat model of rheumatic heart disease. Autoimmunity 25; 1-8.
Why do you love immunology: My area of research within immunology focuses on host-pathogen interactions in infection. I have also a keen interest in developing and characterising clinically relevant disease models. These models enable us to determine the immunepathological mechanisms involved in thedisease process and the possibly of using these models to develop strategies to either prevent these infections or enhance existing treatment regimes.
If I wasn’t an immunologist I would be: Working as a biologist or a palaeontologist!
Tips for young people who want to enter the field of immunology: They should first consider a few things – if one is not fully committed or enjoy the different aspects of research, afraid of long hours of work and unable to put up with experiments not working the way one thinks they should – then they should never get into research – there aremuch better ways to live a life. However, if they are passionate about immunology research – they should go for it with everything that they have. One should always remember to have an open mind.
What being an Immunopaedia Ambassador means to me: When I was studying immunology as a university student 25 years ago, I could not access much material on the subject. Currently we have information overload and not everything on the web is accurate. Therefore, there is a need for credible provided by sources such as Immunopaedia. Contributing to this endeavour means a lot to me as an academic teaching immunology.
How I have contributed to Immunopaedia so far: I have contributed to “Breaking News” and have encouraged colleagues to become members of Immunopaedia. Additionally I have provided a list of material available on the Immunopaedia web to undergraduate students I teach, so that they can access this material.
You can get in touch with me by: LinkedIn – Natkunam Ketheesan