Associate Professor Cecile King is an immunologist/cell biologist investigating the regulation of immune responses in health and disease. A broad objective of this work is to analyse pathways that can be modulated to improve immunity in individuals during vaccination, and limit immune responses that cause damage to both endogenous tissues and transplanted tissues in autoimmune diseases.
A/Professor King received her PhD from the Telethon Institute for Child Health, University of Western Australia and completed her postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA. She joined the faculty of the Department of Immunology at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia in 2005 and is an Associate Professor at the Department of Medicine, University of New South Wales.
Dr King continues to be intrigued by how the immune system maintains tolerance to self. Her research is focused on how interactions between the environment and immune system influence chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease. Dr King has made important contributions to our understanding of how cytokines influence adaptive immune responses, including T follicular helper cell differentiation during the germinal center reaction and the identification of IL-21 as a therapeutic target for autoimmune diabetes. Dr King’s interests include integrating the world of RNA sensing and genes within type 1 IFN regulatory pathways with autoimmune disease and adaptive immune responses.