News and events

27 May 2020

NHMRC Investigator Grant Success

MBI's Dr Justin Beardsley has been awarded an NHMRC Investigator Grant which will allow him to continue his research into disease burden of chronic pulmonary aspergillus in TB survivors and advance diagnosis and treatment.

11 May 2020

Snow Medical funds COVID-19 research

A $5.5m gift to the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne will aid coronavirus research gaps and fast-track economic recovery.

22 April 2020

2020 World Tuberculosis Day overshadowed by COVID-19

Each year on March 24, we commemorate World Tuberculosis (TB) Day as it marks the day the bacterium that causes TB was discovered in 1882 by Dr Robert Koch. This year, attempts to raise awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of the world’s deadliest infectious disease were overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 March 2020

The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2

Prominent MBI researcher Professor Eddie Holmes latest analyses shows that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus.

05 March 2020

Safety of bacteriophage therapy in severe Staphylococcus aureus infection

There is new optimism for phage therapy, an approach that has been with us for 100 years and is now being embraced anew. A rigorous clinical and biological approach will serve us well and effective partnerships between government, industry and the academy are essential.

04 March 2020

Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding

In late December, 2019, patients presenting with viral pneumonia due to an unidentified microbial agent were reported in Wuhan, China. A novel coronavirus was subsequently identified as the causative pathogen, provisionally named 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). As of Jan 26, 2020, more than 2000 cases of 2019-nCoV infection have been confirmed, most of which involved people living in or visiting Wuhan, and human-to-human transmission has been confirmed.

03 March 2020

A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China

Emerging infectious diseases, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Zika virus disease, present a major threat to public health. Despite intense research efforts, how, when and where new diseases appear are still the source of considerable uncertainty.

03 March 2020

Key transitions in the evolution of rapid and slow growing mycobacteria identified by comparative genomics

Mycobacteria have been classified into rapid and slow growing phenotypes, but the genetic factors that underlie these growth rate differences are not well understood.

03 March 2020

Coronavirus in the news

Coronavirus is a respiratory illness with symptoms ranging from a mild cough to pneumonia. Good hygiene can prevent infection.

02 March 2020

MBI research into pandemic infection control initiatives

MBI and APPRISE research fellow Dr Mary Wyer recent grant success will allow her to expand her research preparing Australia's hospitals for infectious disease outbreaks