Associate Professor Catherine Satzke leads the Translational Microbiology Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), overseeing a comprehensive, high-quality microbiological research program, partnering with clinicians to deliver translational outcomes.
A/Prof Satzke’s research is focused on major global bacterial pathogens including Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) and Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus, GAS). She has created powerful new knowledge leading to major changes in tools for pneumococcal studies globally. A/Prof Satzke led the update of World Health Organization (WHO) standards for pneumococcal carriage studies enabling investigators to conduct high quality and consistent carriage studies in more than 70 countries for pneumococcus and other bacterial species. A/Prof Satzke’s research has provided evidence of vaccine success in Fiji, Laos and Mongolia, leading to continuation of national pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) programs, improving protection against diseases including pneumonia and meningitis.
A/Prof Satzke received the prestigious international Robert Austrian Research award (2012), the Frank Fenner award (top national mid-career award) in 2017 and was appointed as a Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) in 2019. Catherine was an inaugural veski Inspiring Women Fellow (2016-2018, $150K) and held a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship (2015-2020).
Research
The lung disease pneumonia is the leading killer of children worldwide, with >100 million cases and 800,000 deaths annually. Pneumonia from bacterial-viral coinfection is more deadly than from either pathogen alone.
Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus, GAS) is a major cause of respiratory disease globally. Coinfection with influenza virus increases the frequency and severity of GAS disease. This increase was illustrated in the recent surge in GAS lung disease globally, with many of these cases also being infected with influenza. Despite this recent surge in cases, little is known about the mechanisms which drive influenza-GAS lung disease.
Catherine and her team have established new models to gain important insights into lung disease. With support from the Rebecca Cooper Foundation, Catherine and her team will take clinical isolates from globally circulating strains of GAS and test these using their models to determine the following:
1)The mechanism of host damage in influenza-GAS coinfection.
2)The mechanism by which influenza increases GAS lung disease.
3)The importance of other respiratory viruses for GAS lung disease.
This program will provide critical information for future treatment and prevention strategies for infectious lung disease worldwide.