Antiopi Varelias

Dr Antiopi Varelias leads the Transplantation Immunology laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia and is the Coordinator of the Immunology and Infectious diseases seminar series at the Institute. She was awarded her PhD from The University of Adelaide (Faculty of Medicine) in 2002 and held post-doctoral positions within the University of Adelaide's Department of Surgery (TQEH) and Haematology/Oncology Unit, TQEH before moving to Brisbane to join the Bone Marrow Transplantation laboratory at QIMR Berghofer in 2008, at the time led by Professor Geoff Hill. Under Professor Hill's mentorship, she has published many original research articles in peer-reviewed high-ranking journals on graft-versus-host disease and has presented her research findings at many international and national scientific meetings. As a chief investigator, she has been the recipient of funding from the NH&MRC and CCQ and is a member of several professional societies (ASTCT, TTS, TSANZ, AAI, ASI, SMI, ICIS). Dr Varelias's research interests focus on improving our fundamental understanding of the pathophysiology of graft-versus-host disease using innovative technologies and pre-clinical models, with the view of translating these findings into clinical practice and thereby provide better transplant outcomes for patients. Current research aims to define the immunological basis that underpins graft-versus-host disease, with an emphasis on cellular, cytokine and microbiome interactions that regulate mucosal immunity during stem cell transplantation.

[2026] IL-6 receptor inhibition promotes expansion of cytolytic CD4+ T cells after cellular immunotherapy. Williams, Cameron, Zhang, Ping, Adams, Rachael C, Gong, Huanle, Haeseleer, Francoise, Olver, Stuart D, Engel, Jessica A, Bhise, Shruti S., Lee, Hyun Jae, Moreira, Marcela L, Furlan, Scott N., Haque, Ashraful, Varelias, Antiopi and Hill, Geoffrey R (2026). IL-6 receptor inhibition promotes expansion of cytolytic CD4+ T cells after cellular immunotherapy. Blood Journal blood.2025032420. doi: 10.1182/blood.2025032420 [2026] Fibroblastic reticular cells direct the initiation of T cell responses via CD44. Sng, Xavier Y. X., Voigt, Valentina, Schuster, Iona S., Fleming, Peter, Deuss, Felix A., Abuwarwar, Mohammed H., van Dommelen, Serani L. H., Neate, Georgia E. G., Arnold, Riley M., Horsne