The University of Western Australia

Dr Alma Fulurija

Adjunct Senior Lecturer
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Contact details

Address

School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
The University of Western Australia (M502)
35 Stirling Highway
CRAWLEY WA 6009
Australia

Phone

9346 4872

Fax

9346 4816

Email

alma.fulurija@uwa.edu.au

Location

Room 2.11, L Block, QEII Medical Centre

Biography

Dr. Alma Fulurija was awarded her PhD in Pathology/Immunology in 2002 from University of Western Australia. She subsequently received post-doctoral training at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Immunology and Vaccinology in Geneva and spent a further five years as a Senior Scientist with Cytos Biotechnology Ltd, voted the most successful Swiss biotech company in 2006/07. She relocated back to Australia in 2007 to join Ondek Pty Ltd as a Senior Immunologist and to take up the Adjunct position at UWA.

Publications

The secreted Helicobacter cysteine-rich protein A causes adherence of human monocytes and differentiation into a macrophage-like phenotype.
Dumrese C, Slomianka L, Ziegler U, Choi SS, Kalia A, Fulurija A, Lu W, Berg DE, Benghezal M, Marshall B, Mittl PR. FEBS Letters, 583(10):1637-43

Vaccination against GIP for the treatment of obesity Fulurija A, Lutz TA, Sladko K, Osto M, Wielinga PY, Bachmann MF and Saudan P. PLoS ONE, 3(9):e3163, 2008

A vaccine for hypertension based on virus-like particles: preclinical efficacy and phase I safety and immunogenicity. A. Fulurija, P. Ambühl, A. Tissot, K. Sladko, V. Nief, C. Schellekens and M.F. Bachmann Journal of Hypertension, 25(1):63-72, 2007

Der p 1 peptide on virus-like particles is safe and highly immunogenic in healthy adults. Kundig TM, Senti G, Schnetzler G, Wolf C, Prinz Vavricka BM, Fulurija A, Hennecke F, Sladko K, Jennings G, Bachmann MF. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 117(6):1470-6, 2006

Role of complement factor C3 in the limitation of neonatal IgG antibody responses. A. Fulurija, M. Pihlgren, C. Tougne, M.B. Villiers, C. Villiers, P.H. Lambert and C.A. Siegrist Vaccine, 23(3):329-35, 2004

Roles, responsibilities and expertise

Dr. Alma Fulurija holds the position of Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia in the School of Biology, Biochemistry and Chemical Sciences (Discipline of Microbiology and Immunology) and Head of Immunology at Ondek Pty Ltd, a start-up biotech company founded by Prof. Barry Marshall and hosted by UWA. She has proven skills in immunology, microbiology, in vivo animal models and in vaccine development, particularly immunotherapy. She has gained international experience in both academic and applied research which has led to scientific publications and patents. Dr Fulurija has strong experience in both preclinical animal models and human clinical trials of vaccine-based immunotherapy.

Teaching

•Co-supervising: 2 PhD students in addition to the supervision of Ondek’s immunology team (1 research assistant, 2 postdoctoral scientist)
•Lecturing to Undergraduate students in immunology (2007-current)
•Lecturing to Masters students at the Marshall Centre of Infectious Disease Research and Training (2008-current)

Current projects

Dr. Fulurija’s research interests are in host-pathogen interactions, host defence mechanisms and immunotherapy. In addition to the development of an innovative vaccine delivery technology based on H. pylori, she has a strong interest in investigating H. pylori pathogenesis. Of particular interest is the contribution of the early (innate) immune response and its role in eliciting a non-protective immune response. The current grant aims to understand the molecular mechanisms of survival and persistence of H. pylori by looking at early colonisation events such as phagocytosis.

Research profile

Research profile and publications