Professor Laura K. Mackay

NHMRC Investigator Fellow

Susan is an NHMRC Investigator Emerging Leader Fellow investigating the diversity of tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) across organs. After receiving her PhD from the University of South Australia in 2015, Susan joined the Mackay Laboratory to study how the tissue microenvironment shapes TRM development and functionality. Her work on defining TRM heterogeneity has led to publications in high impact journals includingScience, Nature Immunology, Science Immunology and Immunity. Susan collaborates with domestic and international researchers and clinicians, and is engaged with industry partners where she employs her expertise of microenvironmental imprinting to investigate TRM cells in various cancer settings.

ARC DECRA Fellow

Maximilien completed his Bachelor and Masters in Genetics at the Université Paris Diderot, and PhD at the Singapore Immunology Network (2017). Under the supervision of Dr Lai Guan NG in Singapore, he characterized committed neutrophil precursors in the bone marrow. In 2017, Maximilien joined the Mackay Lab where he currently leads studies investigating tissue-resident memory T cells, focusing on how local microenvironments and microbial diversity shape their development and function at barrier sites like the gut. Maximilien has been awarded multiple competitive fellowships and grants including an ARC DECRA Fellowship (2023-25), a NHMRC EL1 Investigator Fellowship  (2026-30) and a NHRMC Ideas grant (2025-28).

Senior Laboratory Manager

Natasha obtained her PhD from Monash University studying the role of epigenetic modifications in sperm and embryonic development. She then continued this work during a postdoctoral position at The Curie Institute, Paris followed by another postdoctoral position at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Natasha joined the Mackay Lab in 2017 as a Laboratory Manager where she directly supports Prof Mackay in the day-to-day management of the Laboratory.

Research Officer

Tom completed his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, United States (2020) where he studied the non-recombination roles of RAG1 in T cell development and their contribution to the development of autoimmunity, and CD8+ T cell-mediated autoinflammatory diseases. Tom joined the Mackay Lab in 2020 as a Research Officer where his work focuses on understanding the distinct developmental pathways that drive the development of intra-tumoural tissue-resident memory and exhausted T cells.

Senior Research Officer

Ali completed his PhD in Viral Immunology in 2009 at the University of Canberra, and undertook his postdoctoral training at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology. There, he contributed to the characterisation of tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM) and developed imaging techniques including confocal imaging and intravital multiphoton microscopy to study TRM tissue localisation and migratory behaviour. He moved to Griffith University (QLD) in 2016 to develop animal models of skin infection and 3D whole-tissue imaging methods. In 2024, he joined the Mackay Lab to lead imaging and spatial multi-omics projects to study tissue and T cell immunity. Ali’s work is featured in over 50 publications, and he was awarded NHMRC funding (2016, 2023) and a Queensland Young Tall Poppy award (2017).

NHMRC Investigator Fellow

Josh completed his PhD at the University of Queensland in 2017, followed by postdoctoral appointments at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. There, he built strong expertise in single-cell -omics approaches to studying T cell biology, which led to first-author publications in Nature Immunology and JCI Insight. In 2024, he joined the Mackay lab as an NHMRC EL1 Fellow, where he is applying his expertise in single-cell biology to investigate the diversity of T cells and their alterations in complex disease settings.

Walter Benjamin Fellow

Philippa earned her PhD in Experimental Medicine from the Technical University of Munich (Germany) in 2024, where she investigated how intratumoural immune cell interactions shape anti-tumour immunity. She developed in-depth expertise in tumour immunology and advanced imaging techniques, with her research published in Cancer Cell and Immunity, and recognised with the Otto Westphal Thesis Prize from the German Society for Immunology. In 2025, Philippa joined the Mackay Lab on a Walter Benjamin Fellowship awarded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Her current work focuses on how the spatiotemporal dynamics of distinct T cell subsets within tumours influence immune responses and correlate with patient outcomes.

ARC DECRA Fellow

Pirooz completed his PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in 2018 before joining the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, where he developed expertise in T cell antigen recognition and published key findings as first and senior author in Science (2021), Nature Communications (2022), and Science Immunology (2025). In 2023 Dr. Zareie joined the Mackay Lab as an ARC DECRA Fellow to investigate early fate decisions guiding memory T cell differentiation. He currently holds grants from the ARC (DECRA), Cancer Council Victoria, and an NHMRC Investigator (EL1) Fellowship commencing in 2026. His work has been recognised with multiple awards, including the ASBMB Eppendorf Edman ECR Award and the Robert Porter Prize for Laboratory Sciences.

Research Assistant

Chantelle completed her Bachelor of Biomedicine at La Trobe University (2021), before completing a First-Class Honours degree under the supervision of Dr Lisa Mielke at the Olivia Newton-John Caner Research Institute (2022). Continuing on as a Research Assistant, Chantelle worked on characterising γδ T-IELs and their interactions within the colon microenvironment, aiming to identify therapeutic targets for colorectal cancer. After contributing towards a 2023 Science Immunology paper, Chantelle joined Professor Andrew Elefanty's Blood Development Group at the Murdoch Children's Research institute, where her work with haemopoietic stem cells contributed towards a Nature Biotechnology (2024) paper. Chantelle joined the Mackay Lab as a Research Assistant in 2024, where she focuses on understanding the development, role and fate decisions of tissue-resident memory T cells in barrier immunity, cancer and infectious diseases. 

PhD Student

Louis is a second-year PhD student in the Mackay Lab. He earned his BS in Microbiology (2019) and MS in Immunology (2021) from National Taiwan University (NTU). Louis’s research interests centre on intrahepatic immune regulation and T cell exhaustion. During his master’s studies, he investigated the pivotal role of liver-resident memory T cells in models of autoimmune hepatitis. Following graduation, Louis worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Internal Medicine at NTU Hospital, where he focused on immune responses against the hepatitis B virus. Since joining the Mackay Lab in 2023, Louis has been investigating gene expression differences between functional tissue-resident memory T cells and anergic exhausted T cells, aiming to identify key factors that govern CD8⁺ T cell fate decisions, such as memory formation, exhaustion, and long-term maintenance during infection and cancer. Louis has been awarded a Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (GSSA) by the Taiwan Ministry of Education.