Professor Denise Doolan is Director of Research at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. She joined IMB in 2022 and was previously Deputy Director of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, and Director of the JCU Centre for Molecular Therapeutics, at James Cook University.
She was a National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellow and James Cook University Professorial Research Fellow. She was also member of the Strategic Executive Committee of the James Cook University Division of Tropical Heath and Medicine.
Previously, she was a member of the Management Advisory Committee of the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and Coordinator of the QIMRB Biology Department; and served on the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Management Committee.
Denise is a fellow of the International Society for Vaccines, and a Fellow of the Australian Society for Parasitology.
She is currently President-Elect for the International Society for Vaccines (ISV), and a member of the ISV Executive Board. She previously served as President of the Australian Society for Parasitology. She is also on a number of editorial boards, including as chief editor, and is actively involved in mentoring the next generation of medical research scientists. In 2021 she became a member of the expert advisory panel ‘The Australian Medical Research Advisory Board’ (AMRAB) that advises the Government on research and innovation priorities under the landmark $20 billion Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
Denise is a molecular immunologist, and her multidisciplinary research focuses on developing vaccine and diagnostics for infectious diseases. Her expertise spans host-pathogen immunity, antigen discovery, and vaccine engineering, with a broad international network of collaborators.
She is an inventor of a number of patents in immunology and vaccinology.