Dr Rhiannon Werder
Dr Rhiannon Werder
Details
Role
Team Leader/Snr Research Officer
Research area
Stem Cell Medicine
Group
Immune Development
Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), leading research utilising stem cell models of the lung to transform the discovery of new therapies for respiratory disease. She received a PhD in Immunology from the University of Queensland in 2017, uncovering novel antiviral mediators regulating responses to respiratory viral infections. Dr Werder was then awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship and an Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral work at a world-leading stem cell institute (Center for Regenerative Medicine, Boston University).
Dr Werder now leads a multidisciplinary team at MCRI, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research focuses on investigating respiratory viral infections and chronic lung diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models of the lung. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Werder’s research led to significant findings, including the first discovery of how the lung epithelium responds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
She has also pioneered new gene-editing techniques in iPSC-derived epithelial cells to understand chronic lung disease inception. In addition, Dr Werder is Deputy Convenor of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Cell, Immunology & Molecular Biology of the Lung Special Interest Group.
Dr Werder now leads a multidisciplinary team at MCRI, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research focuses on investigating respiratory viral infections and chronic lung diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models of the lung. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Werder’s research led to significant findings, including the first discovery of how the lung epithelium responds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
She has also pioneered new gene-editing techniques in iPSC-derived epithelial cells to understand chronic lung disease inception. In addition, Dr Werder is Deputy Convenor of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Cell, Immunology & Molecular Biology of the Lung Special Interest Group.
Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), leading research utilising stem cell models of the lung to transform the discovery of new therapies for respiratory disease. She received a PhD in Immunology from...
Dr Rhiannon Werder is a Team Leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), leading research utilising stem cell models of the lung to transform the discovery of new therapies for respiratory disease. She received a PhD in Immunology from the University of Queensland in 2017, uncovering novel antiviral mediators regulating responses to respiratory viral infections. Dr Werder was then awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) CJ Martin Early Career Fellowship and an Australian Government Endeavour Research Fellowship to undertake postdoctoral work at a world-leading stem cell institute (Center for Regenerative Medicine, Boston University).
Dr Werder now leads a multidisciplinary team at MCRI, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research focuses on investigating respiratory viral infections and chronic lung diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models of the lung. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Werder’s research led to significant findings, including the first discovery of how the lung epithelium responds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
She has also pioneered new gene-editing techniques in iPSC-derived epithelial cells to understand chronic lung disease inception. In addition, Dr Werder is Deputy Convenor of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Cell, Immunology & Molecular Biology of the Lung Special Interest Group.
Dr Werder now leads a multidisciplinary team at MCRI, combining expertise in stem cell biology and immunology, to develop new therapies for lung diseases. Her research focuses on investigating respiratory viral infections and chronic lung diseases using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models of the lung. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Werder’s research led to significant findings, including the first discovery of how the lung epithelium responds to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
She has also pioneered new gene-editing techniques in iPSC-derived epithelial cells to understand chronic lung disease inception. In addition, Dr Werder is Deputy Convenor of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Cell, Immunology & Molecular Biology of the Lung Special Interest Group.
Top Publications
- Werder, RB, Berthiaume, KA, Merritt, C, Gallagher, M, Villacorta-Martin, C, Wang, F, Bawa, P, Malik, V, Lyons, SM, Basil, MC, et al. The COPD GWAS gene ADGRG6 instructs function and injury response in human iPSC-derived type II alveolar epithelial cells. American Journal of Human Genetics 110(10) : 1735 -1749 2023 view publication
- Phipps, S, Howard, DR, Werder, RB. Eosinophils apply a handbrake to plasmacytoid dendritic cell antiviral immunity in asthma. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 150(3) : 589 -591 2022 view publication
- Werder, RB, Liu, T, Abo, KM, Lindstrom-Vautrin, J, Villacorta-Martin, C, Huang, J, Hinds, A, Boyer, N, Bullitt, E, Liesa, M, et al. CRISPR interference interrogation of COPD GWAS genes reveals the functional significance of desmoplakin in iPSC-derived alveolar epithelial cells. Science Advances 8(28) : eabo6566 2022 view publication
- Werder, RB, Huang, J, Abo, KM, Hix, OT, Minakin, K, Alysandratos, K-D, Merritt, C, Berthiaume, K, Alber, AB, Burgess, CL, et al. Generating 3D Spheres and 2D Air-Liquid Interface Cultures of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Type 2 Alveolar Epithelial Cells.. J Vis Exp 2022 view publication
- Werder, RB, Ullah, MA, Rahman, MM, Simpson, J, Lynch, JP, Collinson, N, Rittchen, S, Rashid, RB, Sikder, MAA, Handoko, HY, et al. Targeting the P2Y13 Receptor Suppresses IL-33 and HMGB1 Release and Ameliorates Experimental Asthma.. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 205(3) : 300 -312 2022 view publication
Page 1 of 6
Career information
Share //
