Prof William (Bill) Heath

Bill is an experienced and distinguished immunologist with a PhD in Medicine from the University of Melbourne.

Bill uses infectious diseases, particularly malaria and Herpes simplex (the virus that causes cold sores), to study how the immune system functions. Specifically, he focuses on understanding the role and functions of memory T cells, which are critical in the development of vaccines, and dendritic cells, which play a critical role in triggering an immune reaction by presenting antigens to T cells.

Working with Centre colleagues, Scott Mueller, Kat Gaus and Woei Ming (Steve) Lee and Prof. Frank Carbone and the University of Melbourne, Bill uses and develops imaging technology to look at immune responses in tissues and whole animals.

In addition to a long and successful track record in obtaining competitive research funding, Bill was also selected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and awarded the Burnet Oration and Medal by the Australasian Society for Immunology in 2011.