Kate Stacey

Professor Kate Stacey holds dual roles as Director of Research and Professor within the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at The University of Queensland, Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on innate immune cell activation by pathogen products, particularly mechanisms of DNA recognition and inflammasome signaling. She completed her PhD at UQ on macrophage transcriptional regulation and held a CJ Martin Fellowship at the University of Cambridge before returning to UQ in 1996. She was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2009.

• Education:
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Science (Advanced), The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Her research interests include:
- Recognition of foreign DNA via TLR9, AIM2, and cGAS pathways
- Inflammasome-induced cell death mechanisms (caspase-1/pyroptosis and caspase-8 apoptosis)
- Autoimmunity in lupus through dysregulated innate immune responses
- Evolutionary conservation of DNA defense mechanisms across species

Recent work highlights structural biology insights into TLR signaling complexes and inflammasome activation pathways, with implications for viral infections like dengue and SARS-CoV-2. Key findings include dual death pathways activated by inflammasomes and novel therapeutic approaches targeting TLR4 signaling.

Awards: ARC Future Fellowship (2009), NHMRC Research Fellowship (2014–2019), multiple NHMRC Project Grants.

Supervision: Active advisor for PhD students researching TLR signaling, dengue pathogenesis, and evolutionary immune mechanisms. Has supervised over 20 completed theses since 2003.