Prof Rajiv Khanna
Prof. Rajiv Khanna obtained his doctorate degree from India and undertook his post-doctoral training at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane Australia. He is the founding Director/Coordinator of Australian Centre for Vaccine Development (now named as QIMR Berghofer Centre for Immunotherapy and Vaccine Development).
He is currently appointed as Senior Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and is also appointed as Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland and Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
Prof. Khanna is a Fellow of Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was awarded Order of Australia in 2017. He has extensive expertise in immunotherapy clinical trials, herpesvirus immunology and vaccine development.
Over the last two decades, his group has successfully translated his research towards the development of novel T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of transplant recipients and autoimmune diseases. Prof. Khanna has been appointed as a consultant to Atara Biotherapeutics (US), CSL Ltd, Cellestis Ltd and Oxford Immunotech (UK) for the development of novel immunotherapeutics, diagnostic technologies and vaccines.
He is also appointed on Scientific Advisory Board of Atara Biotherapeutics. Prof. Khanna has been invited by various national and International organizations for expert advice on developing clinical guidelines and scientific review.
Selected Publications
Smith C, Tsang J, Beagley L, Chua C, Lee V, Li V, Moss DJ, Coman W, Chan KH, Nicholls J, Kwong D and KHANNA R. Effective treatment of metastatic forms of Epstein-Barr virus associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma with a novel adenovirus based adoptive immunotherapy. Cancer Res. (2012) 72(5):1116-1125.
Tey SK and KHANNA R. Autophagy mediates transporter associated with antigen processing-independent presentation of viral epitopes through MHC class I pathway. Blood (2012) 120 (14):994-1004
Muratt P, Zhong J, Lekieffre L, Cowieson NP, Clancy JL, Preiss P, Balasubramaniant S, KHANNA R and Tellam JT. RNA G-quadruplexes regulate Epstein-Barr virus encoded nuclear antigen 1 mRNA translation. Nature Chem. Biol. (2014) 10: 358–364.
Schuessler A, Smith C, Beagley L, Boyle GM, Rehan S, Matthews K, Jones L, Crough T, Dasari V, Klein K, Smalley A, Alexander H, Walker DG, KHANNA R. Autologous T cell therapy for cytomegalovirus as a consolidative Treatment for recurrent glioblastoma. Cancer Res. (2014) 74: 3466-3476
Ambalathingal GR, Francis RS, Smyth MJ, Smith C, KHANNA R. BK polyomavirus: clinical aspects, immune regulation, and emerging therapies. Clin Microbiol Rev (2017) 30:503–528.
Pender MP, Csurhes PA, Smith C, Douglas NL, Neller MA, Matthews KK, Beagley L, Rehan S, Crooks P, Hopkins TJ, Blum S, Green KA, Ioannides ZA, Swayne A, Aftab BT, Hooper KD, Burrows SR, Thompson KM, Coulthard A, KHANNA R. Epstein-Barr virus-specific T cell therapy for progressive multiple sclerosis. JCI Insight. 2018 Nov 15;3(22). pii: 124714
Smith C, Beagley L, Rehan S, Neller MA, Crooks P, Solomon M, Holmes-Liew CL, Holmes M, McKenzie Hopkins P, Campbell S, Francis R, Chambers D, KHNANA, R. Autologous adoptive T-cell therapy for recurrent or drug-resistant cytomegalovirus complications in solid organ transplant patients: A single-arm open-label phase I clinical trial. Clin Infect Dis. (2019) 68(4):632-640. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciy549.
Smith C, Corvino D, Beagley L, Rehan S, Neller MA, Crooks P, Matthews KK, Solomon M, Le Texier L, Campbell S, Francis RS, Chambers D, KHANNA, R. T cell repertoire remodelling following post-transplant T cell therapy coincides with clinical response. J Clin Invest. 2019; 129(11):5020-5032.
Bhatt KH, Neller MA, Sriganesh S, Crooks P, Lekieffre L, Aftab BT, Liu H, Smith C, Kenny L, Porceddu S and KHANNA R. Profiling HPV 16-specific T-cell responses reveals broad antigen reactivities in oropharyngeal cancer patients. J. Exp. Med (2020) 217 (10): e20200389.
Smith C, Lineburg KE, Martins JP, Ambalathingal G, Neller MA, Morrison B, Matthews KK, Rehan S, Crooks P, Panikkar A, Beagley L, Le Texier L, Srihari S, Walker D and KHANNA R. Autologous CMV-specific T cells are a safe adjuvant immunotherapy for primary glioblastoma multiforme. J Clin Invest. (2020);130(11):6041-6053.