Dr. Laverne Robilliard

I am a career scientist with experience across academia and industry. I am also a passionate science advocate, educator and communicator. I have spent time traveling NZ presenting research to public audiences as part of New Zealand's Neurological Foundation, developing educational seminars, and have been involved in highly successful fundraising campaigns to raise awareness for Spinal Cord Injury (Catwalk Trust). 

My research interests include immunology, cancer and endothelial biology, and vaccinology. Over the course of my academic career in both New Zealand and Australia I have led a number of research projects  including; 'Comparative structural and functional aspects of cerebral and dermal endothelium" and "Understanding Immunological Blockades in Glioblastoma". Through these multi-year research projects, I have developed my specialties in stem-cell and organoid development, flow cytometry; including spectral flow, real-time impedance sensing technology, Live-cell imaging and confocal microscopy, CAR-T development, and various molecular techniques; of which includes Nanostring technology. 

My industry career specialised in vaccinology, specifically in the clinical development of vaccine formulations for microneedle delivery.