research

enteric viruses

summary

Our research group investigates viral pathogens and their role in several gastrointestinal diseases important in children, including acute gastroenteritis and Crohn's disease. Our research aims to improve our knowledge of the role of enteric viruses through enhanced detection and better understanding of their biology, epidemiology and immune responses.

group leader(s)

  Dr Carl KirkwoodCarl Kirkwood 
  Enteric Viruses
  Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
  Royal Children's Hospital
  Flemington Road
  Parkville
  Victoria 3052

  T   +61 3 8341 6439
  F   +61 3 8341 6449
  E   carl.kirkwood@mcri.edu.au
 
  group leader biography

current research projects

Project 1: Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program

The Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program conducts a nationwide study on the rotavirus types circulating in various communities around Australia. This program provides epidemiological information about the rotavirus strains prevalent in Australia, and allows us to track seasonal changes in rotavirus strains causing severe disease. It will identify the emergence of new or unusual strains, as well as the extent of gene re-assortment in wild-type rotaviruses.

The introduction of rotavirus vaccination into the infant immunisation schedule (1st July 2007) will increase the immune pressure against wild-type rotavirus strains, altering the forces and balances driving rotavirus evolution. The immediate protective benefits of vaccination may be rapidly eroded if non-vaccine preventable strains appear and then spread community-wide. This program will also investigate the viral dynamics of rotavirus evolution and the emergence and spread of rotavirus strains pre and post vaccination, including comparison of complete genomes, and encoding both structural and non-structural proteins. This will provide insight into both the spatial and temporal evolutionary dynamics of rotavirus populations under differential vaccine pressures.

Project 2: Understanding the role of infectious agents in early onset Crohn's disease

Crohn's disease (CD) is a major cause of morbidity throughout the world. It is a lifelong illness with a severe impact on the health of the individual, often necessitating repeated surgery. Over the past 20 years, an increase in incidents, especially in children, has been identified in many developed countries including Australia. CD is initiated in genetically susceptible individuals and is thought to be caused by an infectious agent(s) capable of initiating persistent immune tissue injury.

Our study focuses on detection and characterisation of infectious agents at the time of disease diagnosis using cutting edge molecular biology technology. Understanding the precise role that infectious agents play in children with early onset CD would be a major achievement in Crohn's research, and could open a new chapter in therapy and prevention.

Project 3: Characterisation of viral agents responsible for acute diarrhoea in children

Diarrhoea is responsible for over two million deaths worldwide, primarily in children under five years of age. A diverse group of pathogens including viruses, bacteria and parasites can cause diarrhoea, with rotavirus and norovirus the chief viral agents identified. However, recent studies have implicated other known and unknown viruses in this disease, including novel viruses such as bocavirus and picobirnavirus. In this project we continue to explore to the role of both known and novel viruses, to help determine the seasonal and temporal variation, as well as understanding their biological characteristics.

team members

  • Graeme Barnes - Group Leader
  • Ruth Bishop - ESTEEMED HONORARY FELLOW
  • Nada Bogdanovic-Sakran - Laboratory Assistant
  • Celeste Donato - PhD Student (LaTrobe Life Sci)
  • Nicole Donker - PhD Student (LaTrobe LifeSciences)
  • Jackie Mahar - PhD Student (LaTrobe Life Sci)
  • Hera Nirwati - OCCUPATIONAL TRAINEE
  • Kate Pedrina - Honours Student (LaTrobe Micro)
  • Susie Roczo-Farkas - Research Assistant
  • Winnie Sim - Research Assistant
  • Huy Tran - Research Assistant
  • Josef Wagner - Research Officer

publications

  • Boon D., Mahar JE., Abente EJ., Kirkwood CD., Purcell RH., Kapikian AZ., Green KY., Bok K. Comparative evolution of GII.3 and GII.4 norovirus over a 31-year period. Journal of Virology 85 (17) : 8656 - 8666(2011) PubMed
  • Buttery JP., Lambert SB., Grimwood K., Nissen MD., Field EJ., Macartney KK., Akikusa JD., Kelly JJ., Kirkwood CD. Reduction in Rotavirus-associated Acute Gastroenteritis Following Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccine Into Australia's National Childhood Vaccine Schedule. PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE JOURNAL 30 (1) (2011) PubMed
  • Ch'ng LS., Lee WS., Kirkwood CD. Rare Rotavirus Strains in Children with Severe Diarrhea, Malaysia. EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES 17 (5) : 948 - 950(2011) PubMed
  • Donker NC., Boniface K., Kirkwood CD. Phylogenetic analysis of rotavirus A NSP2 gene sequences and evidence of intragenic recombination. Infection, Genetics and Evolution 11 (7) : 1602 - 1607(2011) PubMed
  • Donker NC., Foley M., Tamvakis DC., Bishop RF., Kirkwood CD. Identification of an Antibody Binding Epitope on the Rotavirus Non-Structural Protein NSP2 Using Phage Display Analysis. Journal of General Virology 92 (10) : 2374 - 2382(2011) PubMed
  • Justice FA., Nguyen LT., Tran SN., Kirkwood CD., Thi NT., Carlin JB., Bines JE. Recurrent intussusception in infants. JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH 47 (11) : 802 - 805(2011) PubMed
  • Kirkwood CD., Boniface K., Barnes GL., Bishop RF. Distribution of Rotavirus Genotypes After Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccines, Rotarix (R) and RotaTeq (R), into the National Immunization Program of Australia. PEDIATRIC INFECTIOUS DISEASE JOURNAL 30 (1) (2011) PubMed
  • Mahar JE., Kirkwood CD. Characterization of norovirus strains in Australian children from 2006 to 2008: Prevalence of recombinant strains. Journal of Medical Virology 83 (12) : 2213 - 2219(2011) PubMed
  • Matthijnssens J., Ciarlet M., McDonald SM., Attoui H., Banyai K., Brister JR., Buesa J., Esona MD., Estes MK., Gentsch JR., Iturriza-Gomara M., Johne R., Kirkwood CD., Martella V., Mertens PPC., Nakagomi O., Parreno V., Rahman M., Ruggeri FM., Saif LJ., Santos N., Steyer A., Taniguchi K., Patton JT., Desselberger U., Van Ranst M. Uniformity of rotavirus strain nomenclature proposed by the Rotavirus Classification Working Group (RCWG). ARCHIVES OF VIROLOGY 156 (8) : 1397 - 1413(2011) PubMed
  • Sim WH., Wagner J., Cameron DJ., Catto-Smith AG., Bishop RF., Kirkwood CD. Expression profile of genes involved in pathogenesis of paediatric Crohn's disease. JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY (2011) PubMed
  • Snelling TL., Andrews RM., Kirkwood CD., Culvenor S., Carapetis JR. Case-control evaluation of the effectiveness of the G1P[8] human rotavirus vaccine during an outbreak of rotavirus G2P[4] infection in central Australia. Clinical Infectious Diseases 52 (2) : 191 - 199(2011) PubMed
  • Wagner J., Sim W., Bishop RF., Catto-Smith AG., Cameron DJS., Kirkwood CD. Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis in Children with Early-onset Crohn's Disease: A Longitudinal Follow-up Study. INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES 17 (8) : 1825 - 1826(2011) PubMed
  • Wynne JW., Bull TJ., Seemann T., Bulach DM., Wagner J., Kirkwood CD., Michalski WP. Exploring the Zoonotic Potential of Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis through Comparative Genomics. PLOS ONE 6 (7) (2011) PubMed