Dr Isaac Sakala

Dr Isaac Sakala is an immunologist at Vaxine, a biotechnology company at Flinders Medical Centre funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop novel vaccine technologies and has a full Academic Status (Lecturer - Level B) at Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health. Vaxine has developed a highly effective recombinant Spike protein vaccine to protect against COVID-19 virus, which currently is authorised for use in 18-50 years old humans. Dr Sakala has broad expertise in immune responses to viral and mycobacterial infections, virus-encoded immune evasion proteins and their effects on host immune response to infection and vaccination. He has, especially, strong experience in infection/vaccination-induced gamma/delta TCR T and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, and adaptive T/B lymphocytes functions. His current research, supported by NIH Adjuvant Discovery Contract to Professor Nikolai Petrovsky and NHMRC grant to Professor James Triccas (The University of Sydney), focuses on development of neonatal influenza and tuberculosis vaccines and how they may be made more effective by novel adjuvants or vaccine delivery systems.

Research

1. Vaccines and vaccinology: Discover and develop innovative vaccines to protect against influenza (seasonal and pandemic), coronavirus (COVID-19), tuberculosis, malaria and HIV, and other infectious diseases. Evaluating vaccine antigens containing novel adjuvants for immunogenicity and efficacy, as well as safety testing, mechanisms of immunogenicity and protection, and correlating immune responses to protection.

2. Novel adjuvants and vaccine delivery systems/strategies: Adjuvant discovery (including combination adjuvantation systems) and characterising mechanism of action for enhancing immunogenicity as well as mechanisms that may impact safety, to help us address specific vaccination problems such as reduced vaccine responses in neonatal, elderly and immunocompromised populations.

3. Allergen-specific immunotherapy: Study the potential of novel adjuvants to modulate the immune response elicited by allergen to a tolerogenic one (to desensitise the host to a specific allergen).