The Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics in Melbourne, Australia and the University of Bonn in Germany, have announced the AUD$54 million Bonn-Cumming Host-Directed Pandemic Therapeutics Research Programme to fund groundbreaking research into early immunity to develop novel targets for therapeutics for pathogens of pandemic potential.

Early immunity refers to the body’s first line of defence against invading pathogens. The partnership aims to develop a blueprint for therapeutics that trigger the body’s natural immune response into appropriate action to fight off infection, no matter the pathogen. This is a revolutionary change from the more common focus on individual treatments for specific pathogens and aims to make pandemic therapeutics available in much shorter timeframes than currently possible.

The University of Bonn’s expertise in this important aspect of the wider field of immunology is best demonstrated through the ImmunoSensation Cluster of Excellence, a research consortium seeking to better understand the connection between the immune system and human health and disease.

The new partnership builds on and extends a long-standing collaboration between the University of Bonn and the University of Melbourne led by Prof Sammy Bedoui in Melbourne and Prof Christian Kurts in Bonn. The two institutions established an International Research Training Group joint PHD program in 2016 to foster global collaborations in immunology. The program has supported over 80 PhD candidates to date.

Image caption- L-R- Prof. Michael Hoch (Rector, University of Bonn), Prof. Duncan Maskell (Vice Chancellor, University of Melbourne), Prof. Jane Gunn AO (Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne), Prof. Bernd Weber (University of Bonn) and Prof. Christian Kurts (University of Bonn)