Publications
A full and updated publication record is available through Google Scholar, ORCID and the UNSW staff profile.
Selected recent and foundational papers
Long-lived liver-resident memory T cells drive malaria vaccine protection
de Menezes MN, Ge Z, Cozijnsen A, Gras S, Bertolino P, Caminschi I, Lahoud MH, Yui K, McFadden GI, Beattie L, Heath WR, Fernández-Ruiz D.
Long-lived liver-resident memory T cells of biased specificities for abundant sporozoite antigens drive malaria protection by radiation-attenuated sporozoite vaccination.
PLoS Pathogens, 2025.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1012731
A mechanistic study showing how durable malaria protection through immunisation with radiation-attenuated sporozoites is linked to long-lived liver TRM cells targeting abundant sporozoite antigens.
Liver-resident memory T cells are key mediators of protection against malaria
Fernández-Ruiz D, Ng WY, Holz LE, Ma JZ, Zaid A, Wong YC, et al.
Liver-resident memory CD8+ T cells form a front-line defense against malaria liver-stage infection.
Immunity, 2016.
doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2016.08.011
A foundational paper establishing liver-resident memory CD8 T cells as key mediators of protection against malaria liver-stage infection, and demonstrating their selective generation through tailored vaccination strategies.
RPL6 as a protective malaria CD8 T cell antigen
Valencia-Hernandez AM, Ng WY, Ghazanfari N, Ghilas S, de Menezes MN, Holz LE, et al.
A natural peptide antigen within the Plasmodium ribosomal protein RPL6 confers liver TRM cell-mediated immunity against malaria in mice.
Cell Host & Microbe, 2020.
doi:10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.010
An antigen discovery study identifying RPL6 as a conserved and highly protective target for CD8 TRM-mediated immunity against malaria in the liver.
Holz LE, Prier JE, Freestone D, Steiner TM, English K, Johnson DN, et al.
CD8(+) T Cell Activation Leads to Constitutive Formation of Liver Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells that Seed a Large and Flexible Niche in the Liver.
Cell Reports 2018;25(1):68–79.e4.
doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.08.094
A foundational study showing that liver TRM cells can form spontaneously from activated CD8 T cells.
Enders MH, Bayarsaikhan G, Ghilas S, Chua YC, May R, de Menezes MN, et al.
Plasmodium berghei Hsp90 contains a natural immunogenic I-A(b)-restricted antigen common to rodent and human Plasmodium species.
Current Research in Immunology 2021;2:79–92.
doi:10.1016/j.crimmu.2021.06.002
An antigen-discovery paper identifying Hsp90 as a conserved target for CD4 T cell immunity against malaria.
γδ T cell-derived IL-4 initiates CD8+ T cell immunity
Le S, Dooley N, Murphy D, Liu S, Gandolfo LC, Ge Z, et al.
γδ T cell-derived IL-4 initiates CD8+ T cell immunity.
Nature Immunology, 2026.
doi:10.1038/s41590-025-02397-z
A mechanistic immunology study identifying γδ T cell-derived IL-4 as a key signal for the development of CD8 T cell immunity against malaria.
mRNA vaccine tailored for liver-resident memory T cells
Ganley M, Holz LE, Minnell JJ, de Menezes MN, Burn OK, Poa KCY, et al.
mRNA vaccine against malaria tailored for liver-resident memory T cells.
Nature Immunology, 2023.
doi:10.1038/s41590-023-01562-6
A proof-of-principle study showing that mRNA vaccines can be deliberately designed to generate protective liver-resident memory T cells.
CpG-liposome adjuvants enhance liver TRM formation
Valencia-Hernandez AM, Zillinger T, Ge Z, Tan PS, Cozijnsen A, McFadden GI, et al.
Complexing CpG adjuvants with cationic liposomes enhances vaccine-induced formation of liver TRM cells.
Vaccine, 2023.
doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.12.047
This work demonstrates how vaccine adjuvant formulation can strongly influence the generation of protective liver-resident memory T cells.
Glycolipid-peptide vaccination induces protective liver TRM cells
Holz LE, Chua YC, de Menezes MN, Anderson RJ, Draper SL, Compton BJ, et al.
Glycolipid-peptide vaccination induces liver-resident memory CD8+ T cells that protect against rodent malaria.
Science Immunology, 2020.
doi:10.1126/sciimmunol.aaz8035
A vaccine-engineering study showing that glycolipid-peptide vaccination can generate highly protective liver TRM cell immunity.
Plasmodium-specific TCR transgenic tools
Lau LS, Fernández-Ruiz D, Mollard V, Sturm A, Neller MA, Cozijnsen A, et al.
CD8+ T cells from a novel T cell receptor transgenic mouse induce liver-stage immunity that can be boosted by blood-stage infection in rodent malaria.
PLoS Pathogens, 2014.
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1004135
This paper introduced the PbT-I transgenic mouse line, a major experimental tool for studying malaria-specific CD8 T cell immunity.
Fernández-Ruiz D, Lau LS, Ghazanfari N, Jones CM, Ng WY, Davey GM, et al.
Development of a novel CD4+ TCR transgenic line that reveals a dominant role for CD8+ dendritic cells and CD40 signaling in the generation of helper and CTL responses to blood-stage malaria.
Journal of Immunology, 2017.
doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1700186
This study introduced the PbT-II transgenic mouse line and clarified how dendritic cells and CD40 signalling shape malaria-specific CD4 T cell responses.
Cross-protective SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle vaccine
Earnest L, Ruiz DF, Edeling MA, Montoya JC, Yap AHY, Wong CY, et al.
Preclinical development of a cross-protective β-SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle vaccine adjuvanted with MF59.
npj Vaccines, 2026.
doi:10.1038/s41541-025-01355-y
A translational vaccinology study developing a broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 virus-like particle vaccine platform.