Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases

Dr Richard Ferrero

Dr Ferrero first became interested in H. pylori during doctoral studies in the School of Microbiology , at the University of NSW , Sydney. His PhD project concerned the biochemical and functional characterisation of the ureases of H. pylori and two related Helicobacter species. Upon completion of his doctoral training in 1990, Dr Ferrero took up a post-doctoral position at the Institut Pasteur, in Paris , to clone and sequence the urease genes from another gastric Helicobacter species. (Helicobacter felis). In 1994, Dr Ferrero was appointed to a full-time junior faculty position (Assistant de Recherche) within the Unité de Pathogénie Bactérienne des Muqueuses, at the institute. 

From 1997 onwards, Dr Ferrero worked as an independent researcher within this research group. The major focus of his research since that time has been the investigation of host-pathogen interactions in Helicobacter-induced inflammation.

In June 2004, Dr Ferrero was appointed as a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Microbiology, at Monash University. In August 2009 Dr Ferrero joined Monash Institute of Medical Research's as Laboratory head for Gastrointestinal Infection and Inflammation.

A central theme of Dr Richard Ferrero's research is Helicobacter pylori, the causative agent of peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer in humans. His work in this area has been broad, covering various scientific disciplines: from microbial physiology and molecular pathogenesis, through to vaccine development and mucosal immunology.