Biography

Professor Fabio Luciani is Director of Immunogenomics and Functional Genomics Research Strategy at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Professor at UNSW Sydney. Trained in physics and theoretical biology, he is an internationally recognised leader in systems immunology and single-cell genomics. 

He has over 19 years of research experience and has authored more than 165 publications, with an H-index of 49 and over 8,500 citations. He has secured more than $35 million in research funding from national and international agencies, including NHMRC, NIH, and JDRF, and has delivered over 50 invited presentations worldwide. 

Professor Luciani pioneered the application of single-cell genomics in Australia and led the development of widely used computational tools for immune receptor analysis. His work has been published in leading journals including Nature Immunology, Immunity, Science Translational Medicine, and Cell, and has contributed to defining the role of clonal expansion and somatic mutations in immune-mediated disease. 

He has supervised more than 25 PhD students to completion and established major interdisciplinary collaborations across academia and industry. He is also founder of KeplerBio, a biotechnology company developing AI-engineered antibody therapies targeting pathogenic T cells in autoimmune disease. At WIMR, he leads strategic initiatives in immunogenomics and data-driven translational research, with a focus on advancing precision therapeutics. 

Recent publications

Enterocyte proliferation as a new biomarker in potential coeliac disease

Summary

Ciccocioppo R; D’Agate C; Galli MV; Macchioni A; Broggi G; Zuliani V; Frulloni L; Luciani F; Bugatti M; Benedetti M; Arshad M; Verlato G; Villanacci V

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dld.2025.12.011

Refractory coeliac disease or something else?

Summary

McKelvie P; Singh M; Iser DM; Prince HM; Bazargan MA; Luciani F; Goodnow C; Tye-Din JA

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pathol.2025.08.004

Progenitor effects and unique transcriptomic signatures linked to differentiation phenotype in clonally expanded antigen-specific CD8 T memory stem cells

Summary

Zhao Y; Samir J; Keoshkerian E; Li H; An H; Bull RA; Luciani F; Lloyd AR

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jimmun/vkaf299

High expression of interleukin-18 receptor alpha correlates with severe respiratory viral disease and defines T cells with reduced cytotoxic signatures

Summary

Cabug AF; Crawford JC; McQuilten HA; Foo IJH; Allen LF; Gebregzabher D; Mettelman RC; Novak T; Chou J; Rowntree LC; Hagen RR; Thomson AJ; Martin GE; Gilbertson B; Souter MNT; James F; Goodall E; Rizzetto S; Flerlage T; Jia X; Van de Velde LA; Chang SY; Luciani F; Thwaites RS; Trubiano JA; Kotsimbos TC; Cheng AC; Randolph AG; Thomas PG; Xu J; Wang Z; Nguyen THO; Chua BY; Kedzierski L; Kedzierska K

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65262-5

Expanded CD16+CD56+Granzyme B+ NK like CD8+ T cells an off target effect of bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors in Waldenström macroglobulinemia

Summary

Hastak P; Phetsouphanh C; Zhang ZH; Bull RA; Shrestha LB; Klemm V; Louie R; Luciani F; Munier CML; Hoppé AC; Keoshkerian E; Beaton B; Rankin K; Wong A; Trotman J; Kelleher AD; Sasson SC

 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-18450-8

Additional information

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0666-6324

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabio-luciani-41500713/

Projects

• 2024–current: Chief Investigator – Immunogenomic dissection of T-cell–driven autoimmune disease using single-cell multi-omics. Funded by NHMRC Ideas Grant
• 2025–current: Chief Investigator – Defining clonal evolution and somatic mutation in refractory coeliac disease. International multi-centre collaborative program
• 2024–current: Chief Investigator – Identifying shared immunogenomic signatures of immune tolerance in type 1 diabetes (ENDIA/BANDIT integration). Funded by Breakthrough T1D and NHMRC
• 2023–current: Co-Principal Investigator – Single-cell and spatial profiling of CAR T-cell responses in haematological malignancies. Supported by NIH and industry partnerships
• 2023–current: Program Lead – Development of computational and AI-driven frameworks for antigen receptor analysis and immune cell state prediction
• 2023–current: Chief Investigator – Systems immunology of T-cell differentiation and immune tolerance using integrated single-cell genomics and machine learning
• 2022–current: Chief Investigator – Immunogenomic profiling of immune-mediated diseases and cancer to identify therapeutic targets and biomarkers
• 2021–current: Co-Investigator – Large-scale international initiatives in immune repertoire analysis and database development (e.g. VDJdb and related resources)

Collaborations

• Westmead Institute for Medical Research and Westmead Hospital (Australia): Clinical and translational collaborations in immunogenomics, CAR T-cell therapy, and autoimmune disease
• UNSW Sydney (Australia): Ongoing partnerships in systems immunology, single-cell genomics, and computational biology
• Weill Cornell Medicine (USA): Collaborative research in single-cell immunology and cancer immunotherapy
• Garvan Institute of Medical Research (Australia): Joint studies in immune genomics and human disease
• Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI, Australia): Collaboration on T-cell biology and immune-mediated disease
• International clinical collaborators (Italy – University of Milan, San Matteo Hospital Pavia): Immunopathogenesis of coeliac disease and refractory coeliac disease
• Breakthrough Diabetes / JDRF International Consortium: Multi-institutional collaboration on type 1 diabetes and immune tolerance
• Industry partnerships: Illumina, BD Biosciences, and Affymmune Therapeutics (single-cell technologies, immunotherapy development)
• Global research consortia: Immune repertoire and database initiatives (e.g. VDJdb and related international efforts)

Current grants

Affiliations

University of Sydney, Westmead and Blacktown Hospitals

Professional Associations and Organisations

Awards and recognition