A/Prof Misty Jenkins
(BSc Hons, PhD, MAICD)
Laboratory Head (Immunology Division), WEHI
Founding Member, Women in Science Parkville Precinct
Board Director, Monash Health
Co-Chair Indigenous Health Research Fund, MRFF
A/Prof Misty Jenkins is a NHMRC fellow and laboratory head in the Immunology Division at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research, where she researches cellular immunology and cancer immunotherapy. Misty leads the immunotherapy program within the Brain Cancer Centre and is dedicated to developing new treatments for brain cancer patients.
Misty studied her PhD in Immunology at The University of Melbourne, followed by postdoctoral positions at The Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, and The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Misty has a long-standing interest in CD8+ T cells and her research program researches the use of T cell immunotherapy for brain cancer.
A/Prof Jenkins was awarded the L’Oreal for Women in Science Fellowship (2013), was Tall Poppy of the year (2015), was awarded the Westpac/Australian Financial Review Top 100 Women of Influence Award (2016) and was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2020. In addition to her research career, A/Prof Jenkins is experienced in governance and is a Board Director for Monash Health, Co-Chair of the Indigenous Health Medical Research Future Fund, and advises the Victorian Government on Health and Medical Research strategy.
Current Projects & Areas of Interest:
Drug development and clinical trials for patients with primary brain cancer
Advancement of clinical trial methodology
Lead of the COGNO-led PICCOG study which will evaluate a novel treatment for patients with relapsed IDH-mutant gliomas