Dr Samantha Dando
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences
Biography
Dr Samantha Dando leads the Neuroimmunology and Infections Research Group at QUT. Our research aims to generate new knowledge of immune cells within the brain and eye during health and disease. Ultimately, our goal is to apply this knowledge to better understand normal neurological processes and identify immunotherapeutic targets for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.Samantha completed her PhD in microbiology at QUT in 2012. Her PhD investigated intra-amniotic infections caused by the bacterial opportunistic pathogen, Ureaplasma parvum. In 2012, she took up a postdoctoral position at Griffith University where she studied the immunopathogenesis of Burkholderia pseudomallei and the mechanisms by which this bacterium can penetrate the central nervous system. In 2014, she relocated to Monash University, where her research focus shifted to neuroimmunology and ocular immunology. In 2018, she received an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship to undertake discovery research to characterise novel subsets of resident immune cells within sub-compartments of the brain and eye. Dr Dando returned to QUT in October 2018 as a Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology within the School of Biomedical Sciences and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, where she established the Neuroimmunology and Infections Research Group.
Lab website: https://research.qut.edu.au/ciic/projects/neuroimmunology-and-infection-research/
Personal details
Positions
- Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology
Faculty of Health,
School of Biomedical Sciences- Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation (IHBI),
IHBI Health Projects - Kelvin Grove Q Block Membership
Keywords
Microglia, Immune cells, Microbiology, Toxoplasma gondii, Immune privilege, Neuroimmunology, Ocular Immunology, Meninges, Brain, Retina
Discipline
Immunology, Neurosciences, Medical Microbiology
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (Queensland University of Technology)
Professional memberships and associations
Australian Society for Microbiology (MASM)
Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
International Society of Neuroimmunology
Neuroimmunology Australia
Teaching
I contribute to undergraduate teaching within the School of Biomedical Sciences:
- LQB562: Advanced Microbial Diagnostics
- LSB492: Microbiology
Selected publications
- Dando S, Kazanis R, McMenamin P, (2021) Myeloid Cells in the Mouse Retina and Uveal Tract Respond Differently to Systemic Inflammatory Stimuli, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 62 (10).
- Dando S, Kazanis R, Chinnery H, McMenamin P, (2019) Regional and functional heterogeneity of antigen presenting cells in the mouse brain and meninges, GLIA, 67 (5), pp. 935-949.
- Forrester J, McMenamin P, Dando S, (2018) CNS infection and immune privilege, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 19 (11), pp. 655-671.
- Dando S, Golborne C, Chinnery H, Ruitenberg M, McMenamin P, (2016) A case of mistaken identity: CD11c-eYFP+ cells in the normal mouse brain parenchyma and neural retina display the phenotype of microglia, not dendritic cells, GLIA, 64 (8), pp. 1331-1349.
- Dando S, Mackay-Sim A, Norton R, Currie B, John J, Ekberg J, Batzloff M, Ulett G, Beacham I, (2014) Pathogens penetrating the central nervous system: infection pathways and the cellular and molecular mechanisms of invasion, Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 27 (4), pp. 691-726.
QUT ePrints
To find publications by Samantha, visit QUT ePrints, the University's research repository.