SEMINAR: Cytokine modulation and cell therapy in transplantation

Geoff Hill is a physician-scientist. He is a medical graduate of the University of Auckland who undertook Haematology training in New Zealand and at The Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He is a NHMRC Australia Fellow and his immunology laboratory focuses on the interactions between cytokines, antigen presenting cells (APC) and regulatory T cells during transplantation.

His work has contributed to major changes in clinical practice including the development of reduced intensity conditioning (>now 50% transplants); GCSF mobilized peripheral blood rather than bone marrow as a stem cell source (>now 80% transplants); the role of cytokines in GVHD (his work demonstrated the pivotal role of IL-6 in driving GVHD and his team has undertaken successful first in man phase I/II studies that have progressed to multicenter RCT). He has also made seminal contributions to the field in relation to antigen presentation by defining the critical role of non-professional APC (rather that DC) in initiating GVHD.

Professor Hill leads a large, multidisciplinary program in Transplant Immunology and Haematology that is internationally recognized. As the Director of Research and Chair of the Oncology Research Committee at the Royal Brisbane & Womens' Hospital he provides mentorship to clinicians, nurses and allied health staff and has initiated a culture that embraces research, training and trial activity. Professor Hill was the 2005 Queenslander of the Year and recipient of the Transplantation Society of Australia and New Zealand 2009 Ian McKenzie Award. He was awarded a Queensland Health Senior Clinical Research Fellowship in 2010 to translate new cytokine and cell based therapies into clinical practice. In 2015 he received the Translational Research Institute National Prize for excellence in basic and clinical research in the transplant field and was inducted to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.