Najla Nasr
A/Prof
BSc/MSc/PhD
najla.nasr@wimr.org.au
Currently open to PHD and Honours students in the topic areas of:
HIV reactivation by IFN to eliminate or reduce viral reservoirs
Characterising Tissue Resident Memory T cells in the human ano-genital mucosa
Assessing an effective cure for HIV infected patients using immunotherapy

Biography
Najla Nasr is an Assoc Professor at the University of Sydney, and the Head of the HIV Immunotherapeutic Group at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) with a dual focus on HIV prevention and cure strategies. Her laboratory groundbreaking work uncovered how HIV evades detection by manipulating innate immunity to establish chronic infection.
The HIV Immunotherapeutic Group is funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), The Australian Centres for HIV, HTLV-1, Hepatitis B and C Virology Research (ACH4), and philanthropic funds from the Neil and Norma Hill Foundation.
Assoc Professor Nasr’s current primary area of research is to develop therapeutics to prevent and treat of HIV. More than 35 years after its discovery, HIV still propagates worldwide. Lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) stops HIV from replication, however there is no effective microbicide or vaccine that blocks HIV sexual transmission, nor a treatment exists to cure HIV infected patients. Assoc Professor Nasr research aims at vaccine development to prevent transmission and elimination of silent HIV in cells that don’t respond to ART.
Research interests
Immunology and Virology
Adjunct roles
Recent publications

Recent advances in our understanding of human inflammatory dendritic cells in HIV infection.

Characterising plasmacytoid and myeloid AXL+ SIGLEC6+ dendritic cell functions and their interactions with HIV. PLoS Path 2024.

Strategies to eliminate the CD4 T cells HIV viral reservoir via CAR T cell immunotherapy. Frontiers Immunol 2022

The role of Tissue Resident Memory CD4 T Cells in Herpes Simplex Viral and HIV Infection. Viruses 2021

Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Have Divergent Effects on HIV Infection of Initial Target Cells and Induce a Pro-retention Phenotype. PLoS Pathogen 2021
Additional information
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6249-9204
SCOPUS: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6701512662
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=ZSg1DgYAAAAJ
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Najla-Nasr
Sci Profiles: https://sciprofiles.com/profile/1340850
Current grants
NHMRC | 2024-2027 | A novel strategy to reactivate HIV in CD4 T cells via interferon alpha treatment |
Australian Centre for HIV, HBV, HCV & HTLV-1 Research (ACH4) | 2025 | Targeting latent HIV by novel combination immunotherapy with IFNα8 and CAR T-cells |
Neil and Norma Hill Foundation Philanthropic Donation | 2023- | Investigating the role of human Dendritic cells in HIV. |
Professional Associations and Organisations
2020-Current | WIMR Faculty | Member of the Career Development Committee. |
2019-2023 | WIMR Faculty | Chair for the PC3 committee and the Honours Committee |
2019-2022 | The Scientific Advisory Committee for WSLHD | Member - reviewed human ethic applications |
2018-Current | Marie Bashir Institute/Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute | Member |
2015-Present | Australasian Virology Society (AVS) | Member |
2014-present | Australian Society of Immunology (ASI) | Member |
2012-present) | Australian Society of HIV Medicine (ASHM) | Member |
2009-present | Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis C Research (ACH2) | Member |
Awards and recognition
2023 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant |
2023 National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Ideas Grant Award |
2018 Finding of how HIV beats the body’s early immune response |