Associate Professor Nicole Moreland, together with Dr Reuben McGregor and Dr Natalie Lorenz from the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology, as well as Dr Anneka Anderson from Te Kupenga Hauora Māori (TKHM) have been awarded an HRC project grant entitled ‘Mapping childhood immunity to Streptococcus A’ (36 months, $1,199,999).
Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) causes a range of diseases, from acute pharyngitis (Strep throat) to life-threatening invasive infections and rheumatic fever (RF). Aotearoa New Zealand, has high rates of serious Streptococcus A disease. An effective vaccine is sorely needed. However, vaccine development has been hampered by a lack of insight into the mechanisms by which immunity to Streptococcus A builds throughout childhood.
This project will construct a comprehensive map of immune responses in children following Streptococcus A infections to inform why children are much more susceptible to Streptococcus A infections than adults. This insight will underpin the development of future vaccines.