Tony Cunningham
Professor
AO/FAHMS/MD/MBBS/BMedSci (Hons)/FRACP/FRCPA/FASM/FRNS
tony.cunningham@sydney.edu.au
Currently open to PHD and Honours students in the topic areas of:
Immunology
HIV
Antivirals
Virology
Vaccines development for COVID-19
HSV
HIV and Herpes Zoster

Biography
Professor Anthony (Tony) Cunningham, AO, FAHMS, MD, FRACP, FRCPA, FRSN is a viral immunologist, infectious diseases physician and vaccinologist, well known internationally for his research on the immunology of HIV and herpesviruses and of vaccines. He played a major role in the development and trialling of a partially effective Herpes simplex vaccine and the highly efficacious Shingrix, now extending skills to COVID vaccine research. He is one of the three top cited herpes vaccinologists internationally over the past 10 years (Expertscape 2023). He is Director, Centre for Virus Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Professor and vaccine theme leader, Sydney Infectious Diseases Institute, University of Sydney and NHMRC Senior Leadership Fellow.
Research interests
Immunology, HIV, Antivirals, Virology, Vaccine development for COVID-19, HSV, HIV and Herpes Zoster
Adjunct roles
Professor | School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney |
Vaccine Theme Leader | Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases (Sydney ID), University of Sydney |
Director | Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research (ACH4) |
Recent publications

Immune Responses to a Recombinant Glycoprotein E Herpes Zoster Vaccine in Adults Aged ≥50 Years.

The adjuvanted Recombinant Zoster vaccine confers long term protection against Herpes zoster: Interim results of an extension study of the pivotal phase 3 clinical trials ZOE-50 and ZOE-70 Clin Infect Dis 74

Invited Commentary: Advances in understanding the mechanism of action of adult vaccines.

Identification of HIV transmitting CD11c+ Human Epidermal Dendritic cells.

Human anogenital monocyte-derived dendritic cells and langerin+cDC2 are major HIV target cells.
Additional information
USYD link – https://www.sydney.edu.au/medicine-health/about/our-people/academic-staff/tony.cunningham
OCID – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6744-5667
GoogleScholar – https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=IAp9aUoAAAAJ&hl=en
Current grants
NHMRC Investigator Grant | 2025-2029 | Complementary studies of HIV and Herpes Simplex Viral infection of genital mucosa and the mechanism of action of systemically delivered vaccines. |
Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology Research (ACHA4) | 2024-25 | Targeting latent HIV by novel combination immunotherapy with IFNα8 and CAR T-cells |
GSK | 2019- | Studies of MPL and QS21 adjuvants on human innate immune cells ex vivo. |
Swiss National Science Foundation | 2024-26 | Influence of saponin adjuvant formulation on immune responses: a translational approach |
Moderna Global Fellowship | 2022-25 | Vaccine adjuvant uptake and innate immune responses in an ex vivo human lymph node culture model. |
Moderna Sponsored Research Agreement | 2022-25 | Mechanism of action of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in human lymph node and muscle model. |
MRFF | 2022-25 | Bringing Optimised COVID-19 vaccine Schedules To ImmunoCompromised populations (BOOST-IC) |
NSW Ministry of Health | 2021-25 | Clinical and immunological responses to COVID-19 vaccine(s) in NSW recipients. |
NHMRC Investigator Grant | 2020-24 | Pathogenesis of HIV and Herpes simplex viral infections underpinning development of new preventative and therapeutic strategies. |
Affiliations
University of Sydney
Professional Associations and Organisations
Australasian Society for Immunology | Honorary Life Member | |
Australasian Society for Microbiology | Fellow | |
Australasian Virology Society | Member | |
Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences | Chair, NSW and ACT Branch, and Council Member | |
International AIDS Society | Member | |
Royal Society of New South Wales | Fellow |
Awards and recognition
2024 Honorary Life Member Australasian Society for Immunology |
2015 President Elect of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes (AAMRI) |
2015 Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS) |
2010 Awarded Officer of the Order of Australia for “service to medicine, particularly in the field of viral research and through the development and leadership of medical and biomedical research” |
2009 John Subake-Sharpe Lecture, International Herpesvirus Workshop, Ithaca, United States of America |
2005 Beyerink Lecture, Dutch Virology Society |
2003 3rd Jian Zhou Oration, Centre for Cancer and Immunology Research, The University of Queensland |
1984-1983 NH&MRC Overseas (Neil Hamilton Fairley) Postdoctoral Fellow Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University |
1990 Elected Fellow of the Australian Society of Microbiology |