Gabrielle T. Belz is an Australian molecular immunologist and viral immunologist. She is a faculty member of the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for ...

, within the Molecular Immunology division. Belz has made important contributions to the understanding of immune system function, especially in relation to the molecular and cellular signalling pathways of immune response to viruses. Her research has focused on understanding the signals that drive the initial development of protective immunity against pathogen infections, such as

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

and herpes viruses. This includes research into how

cytotoxic T cell A cytotoxic T cell (also known as TC, cytotoxic T lymphocyte, CTL, T-killer cell, cytolytic T cell, CD8+ T-cell or killer T cell) is a T lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell) that kills cancer cells, cells that are infected by intracellular pa ...

s (a type of

T lymphocyte A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell rec ...

that destroys virally infected cells and tumor cells) recognise and remove virally-infected cells from the body following infection. Research into the description of the specific factors and response during infection will contribute towards the long-term development of vaccines for infectious disease, and the development of better treatments for

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...

Education

Belz trained as a veterinarian and completed her undergraduate studies at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

graduating with a Bachelor of Veterinary Biology in 1990, then a

Bachelor of Veterinary Science The Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc or BVSC; Latin Baccalaureus Veterinariae Scientiae), "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine" (BVetMed), or "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery" ("BVM&S" or "BVMS") is a degree for studies in veterinary me ...

with First Class Honours in 1993. She completed a PhD in 1997 at the

. Following her PhD, she took up a Postdoctoral Fellowship in viral immunology with Nobel Laureate Professor Peter Doherty at St Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, USA. She returned to Australia to take up a position with the

in 2000. In 2010, she received a Doctor of Veterinary Science from the

. Belz was Editor-of-Chief of Immunology and Cell Biology until 2016, and was subsequently a Deputy Editor of the journal for several years. She is currently a Deputy Editor for th
Journal of Immunology

Awards

In 2007 Belz was awarded the Burnet Prize (recognising the Australian virologist

Sir Macfarlane Burnet Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, (3 September 1899 – 31 August 1985), usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virology, virologist known for his contributions to immunology. He won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nob ...

) for her research into how

dendritic cell Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells (also known as ''accessory cells'') of the mammalian immune system. Their main function is to process antigen material and present it on the cell surface to the T cells of the immune system. ...

s and

s work together to defend the body from viral infections. In 2008, Belz was awarded the

Gottschalk Medal The Gottschalk Medal is awarded every year by the Australian Academy of Science to recognize outstanding research by Australian scientists under 40 years of age for research in the medical sciences conducted mainly in Australia. This medal commemor ...

by the Australian Academy of Science for her contribution to a series of pioneering discoveries illuminating how the immune system deals with viruses. In 2012, Belz was awarded the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Fellowships award (recognising the Australian-American biological researcher and Nobel Laureate, Professor

Elizabeth Blackburn Elizabeth Helen Blackburn, (born 26 November 1948) is an Australian-American Nobel laureate who is the former president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Previously she was a biological researcher at the University of California, S ...

). In 2018 she was elected Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is an academy to promote health and medical sciences in Australia. It was established in June 2014. It cites "The Academy will serve the three purposes identified as of high priority in the 20 ...

Selected publications

* Christo SN, Evrard M, Park SL, Gandolfo LC, Burn TN, Fonseca R, Newman DM, Alexandre YO, Collins N, Zamudio NM, Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes F, Pellicci DG, Chisanga D, Shi W, Bartholin L, Belz GT, Huntington ND, Lucas A, Lucas M, Mueller SN, Heath WR, Ginhoux F, Speed TP, Carbone FR, Kallies A, Mackay LK. Discrete tissue microenvironments instruct diversity in resident memory T cell function and plasticity. Nat Immunol. 2021 Sep;22(9):1140-1151. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-01004-1. Epub 2021 Aug 23. PMID 34426691 * Huang Q, Jacquelot N, Preaudet A, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes F, McKenzie ANJ, Hansbro PM, Davis MJ, Mielke LA, Putoczki TL, Belz GT. Type 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells Protect against Colorectal Cancer Progression and Predict Improved Patient Survival.Cancers (Basel). 2021 Feb 1;13(3):559. doi: 10.3390/cancers13030559. PMID 33535624 * Jacquelot N, Seillet C, Wang M, Pizzolla A, Liao Y, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Grisaru-Tal S, Louis C, Huang Q, Schreuder J, Souza-Fonseca-Guimaraes F, de Graaf CA, Thia K, Macdonald S, Camilleri M, Luong K, Zhang S, Chopin M, Molden-Hauer T, Nutt SL, Umansky V, Ciric B, Groom JR, Foster PS, Hansbro PM, McKenzie ANJ, Gray DHD, Behren A, Cebon J, Vivier E, Wicks IP, Trapani JA, Munitz A, Davis MJ, Shi W, Neeson PJ, Belz GT. Blockade of the co-inhibitory molecule PD-1 unleashes ILC2-dependent antitumor immunity in melanoma. Nat Immunol. 2021 Jul;22(7):851-864. doi: 10.1038/s41590-021-00943-z. Epub 2021 Jun 7. PMID 34099918 * Seillet C, Luong K, Tellier J, Jacquelot N, Shen RD, Hickey P, Wimmer VC, Whitehead L, Rogers K, Smyth GK, Garnham AL, Ritchie ME, Belz GT. The neuropeptide VIP confers anticipatory mucosal immunity by regulating ILC3 activity. Nat Immunol. 2020 Feb;21(2):168-177. doi: 10.1038/s41590-019-0567-y. Epub 2019 Dec 23. PMID 31873294 * Soon MSF, Lee HJ, Engel JA, Straube J, Thomas BS, Pernold CPS, Clarke LS, Laohamonthonkul P, Haldar RN, Williams CG, Lansink LIM, Moreira ML, Bramhall M, Koufariotis LT, Wood S, Chen X, James KR, Lönnberg T, Lane SW, Belz GT, Engwerda CR, Khoury DS, Davenport MP, Svensson V, Teichmann SA, Haque A. Transcriptome dynamics of CD4+ T cells during malaria maps gradual transit from effector to memory. Nat Immunol. 2020 Dec;21(12):1597-1610. doi: 10.1038/s41590-020-0800-8. Epub 2020 Oct 12. PMID 33046889 * Mielke LA, Liao Y, Clemens EB, Firth MA, Duckworth B, Huang Q, Almeida FF, Chopin M, Koay HF, Bell CA, Hediyeh-Zadeh S, Park SL, Raghu D, Choi J, Putoczki TL, Hodgkin PD, Franks AE, Mackay LK, Godfrey DI, Davis MJ, Xue HH, Bryant VL, Kedzierska K, Shi W, Belz GT. TCF-1 limits the formation of Tc17 cells via repression of the MAF-RORγt axis. J Exp Med. 2019 Jul 1;216(7):1682-1699. doi: 10.1084/jem.20181778. Epub 2019 May 29. PMID 31142588 * Rankin LC, Girard-Madoux MJ, Seillet C, Mielke LA, Kerdiles Y, Fenis A, Wieduwild E, Putoczki T, Mondot S, Lantz O, Demon D, Papenfuss AT, Smyth GK, Lamkanfi M, Carotta S, Renauld JC, Shi W, Carpentier S, Soos T, Arendt C, Ugolini S, Huntington ND, Belz GT, Vivier E. Complementarity and redundancy of IL-22-producing innate lymphoid cells. Nat Immunol. 2016 Feb;17(2):179-86. doi: 10.1038/ni.3332. Epub 2015 Nov 30. PMID 26595889 * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belz, Gabrielle Living people Australian women scientists Australian immunologists University of Queensland alumni Scientists from Melbourne Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences