Associate Professor Joanne Reed is Director of the Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research at Westmead Institute for Medical Research and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. She received her PhD in Immunology from Flinders University, South Australia in 2009 and was awarded an NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship for postdoctoral training at New York University (2010-2013) and Australian National University (2013-2014). Reed relocated to the Garvan Institute in 2015 where she rose to the position of Group Leader of the Rheumatology and Autoimmunity Lab and Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW. In 2021 she was recruited to the Westmead Institute and University of Sydney where she established the Autoimmunity and Amyloidosis Lab.
Reed leads a translational research program focused on using genomic technology to understand the causes and progression of autoimmune and amyloid diseases to inform precision medicine approaches. She currently serves as a Council Member for the International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) and is co-chair of the ASI Advanced Immunology School.
Research
Autoimmune disease occurs when the immune system’s cells that normally attack invading viruses and bacteria go “rogue” and attack healthy parts of the body. In rheumatic autoimmune disorders such as Sjogren’s disease and systemic lupus erythematosus, rogue immune cells frequently damage connective tissues (joints, bone, muscles, and skin) and a diverse array of other major organs (heart, kidneys, blood, brain). There is no cure and treatments are limited to drugs that indiscriminately suppress the immune system, causing side effects and vulnerability to infection. The goal of our research is to understand where rogue cells originate and how they differ to normal immune cells so that we can selectively target and eliminate these disease-causing cells.
Previously our team identified rogue immune cells responsible for damaging the skin and kidneys in patients with Sjogren’s disease. We identified genetic features of rogue cells that were distinct to normal immune cells and could be targeted by therapies. However, the technology to identify rogue immune cells is expensive, time consuming and requires highly specialised expertise, making it challenging to screen large numbers of patients. With the support of the Rebecca Cooper Fellowship, the team will study rogue immune cells in patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases and humanised mouse models to:
1) Develop a simplified and low-cost test that could be applied in the clinical diagnostic laboratory to identify drug targets on rogue cells; and
2) Uncover the origins of rogue cells and test new treatments in a mouse model of disease.
The establishment of innovative technology to detect rogue immune cells and pre-clinical models to validate treatments to eliminate rogue cells has the potential to personalise clinical care for patients with autoimmune disease.