DrGrant Parnell

PhD, BSc (Hons Class I)

Dr Grant Parnell is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and a research group leader with a strong focus on the translation of transcriptomic and genomic technologies into clinical practice. He leads the Immunogenetics Group based at the Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research. The broad aim of his current research program is to advance understanding of the complex interactions between the genetic and environmental risk factors for autoimmune diseases, particularly Multiple Sclerosis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, with the main environmental risk factors interrogated being vitamin D deficiency and Epstein-Barr virus infection. 

Grant was awarded his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2014 for his work on transcriptome profiling of the immune response in patients admitted to intensive care due to systemic infection. This research identified distinct differences in the immune response in patients with pneumonia caused by bacterial as opposed to influenza infection. As part of this work, a single gene biomarker, IFI27, was identified that is capable of stratification of severity of infection in influenza infected individuals. He is a co-inventor on an international patent awarded for this biomarker. His research to date has required development of expertise in experimental design, laboratory procedures, and bioinformatics analysis for large scale transcriptomic studies. He was responsible for both his PhD lab and current research group’s transition to next-generation sequencing transcriptomic approaches, both wet-and-dry lab aspects.