Theresa Pankhurst (descendent of tribes Ng膩i Tahu, Ng膩ti Kahungunu and Ng膩ti Porou) graduated in 2021 from Te Herenga Waka 鈥 Victoria University of Wellington with a PhD in Biomedical Science under the supervision of Dr Lisa Connor. Her PhD research focused on improving mucosal vaccine design against respiratory viruses, by harnessing lung-resident innate-like T cells as cellular adjuvants.
Following her PhD she joined the Malaghan 台湾swag of Medical 台湾swag as a Postdoctoral Fellow for the Vaccine Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (VAANZ) 鈥 Ohu Kaupare Huaketo, where she designed and conducted immunogenicity testing on a range of vaccine candidates for COVID-19. In 2022, she became the inaugural recipient of Te Urungi Fellowship that has enabled her to incorporate aspects of Te Ao M膩ori (The M膩ori world) into both her research journey as well as her personal journey as M膩ori.
Te Urungi Fellowship has also provided her with the opportunity to gain international expertise in vaccine immunology, where she is now a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Linterman Laboratory researching germinal centre responses to mRNA vaccination, and how human secondary lymphoid tissues change across the lifespan.