ProfessorTony Cunningham

Professor Anthony (Tony) Cunningham, AO, FAHMS, MD, MBBS, BMedSci(Hons), FRACP, FRCPA, FAVS, FASM, FRNS is an NHMRC Senior Leadership Fellow, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, the University of Sydney; Director of the Centre for Virus Research at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR); and Director of the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Research (ACH4), a Commonwealth Government-funded institute that aims to combat the impact of HIV and hepatitis in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region by bringing together basic researchers with translational scientists and physicians. He is an infectious diseases physician, clinical virologist and scientist, well known internationally for his research on the immunobiology of HIV and herpesviruses, his work on vaccine development and trialling, especially for shingles and herpes, and as an antiviral’s expert.

Professor Cunningham has previously worked at Stanford University, USA, built up the State Reference Laboratory in Virology at and established a state reference HIV laboratory at Westmead Hospital in the mid-1980s before assuming the founding directorship of WIMR in 1996 until end 2019. He was President of the Australian Association of Medical Research Institutes 2016-18. He has generated many key discoveries relating to HIV. His research has been instrumental in defining HIV interactions with host immune cells including dendritic cells (DCs), the initial target in the anogenital mucosa, and macrophages (the virus reservoir), and the process of virus trafficking to the final T cell target. His research aims to develop a treatment (e.g. topical antiviral/microbicide) that acts at the source of infection to prevent the spread of HIV and more recently to further develop immunotherapy for ‘cure’ of HIV.

His team also has made key contributions to human immunology and neurobiology of Herpes simplex virus (HSV), leading to the development and trialling by GSK of a partly successful candidate HSV vaccine. He played a major role in the development and trialling of a partially effective Herpes simplex vaccine and then the highly efficacious Shingrix, now extending skills to COVID vaccine research. He was the leading academic triallist and chaired the publications committee for Shingrix and has published more than 80 papers on herpesvirus vaccines including first/second authorship on the seminal New England Journal papers on the trials.

Professor Cunningham extended his HIV and herpesvirus research to COVID-19 vaccine development and trialling, and assuming other advisory positions to government and pharma in this field, including the state COVID-19 Vaccines Committee. He has published more than 490 papers, with >33,000 citations and is one of the top three cited herpes vaccinologists internationally over the past 10 years (Expertscape). Professor Cunningham is a member of Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute (Sydney ID) where he holds the position of Vaccine Theme Leader.

Professor Cunningham serves on numerous international expert panels on HIV/HSV, antivirals and vaccines and consults for five international vaccine companies and serves on the Board of the Marshall Institute, University of Western Australia. In 2010 he was awarded Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for ‘service to medicine, particularly in the field of viral research and through the development and leadership of medical and biomedical research’. He has been elected to fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, the Australian Society of Microbiology, the Australasian Virology Society, and was also made one of 34 honorary life members of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Immunology in 2024.