Group A Streptococcal Research

Project Lead
Associate Professor Andrew Steer
andrew.steer@mcri.edu.au

View researcher's webpage

Project Details

The Group A Streptococcal (GAS) research group focuses on disease caused by “strep”, that is, Streptococcus pyogenes, as well as neglected tropical infections such as scabies. The team uses laboratory and field-based approaches to investigate and test new diagnostic, treatment, and control strategies. Researchers aim to better understand the immunology and epidemiology of GAS. Focusing on the disease burden in developing countries, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The group is working toward the development of a global GAS vaccine in collaboration with national and international partners. Group a streptococcus causes a wide range of clinical disease, from sore throat and skin sores, to serious invasive infections and post-infectious complications including:

Toxic shock syndrome
Rheumatic fever
Rheumatic heart disease
Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis

The team is led by Associate Professor Andrew Steer

Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for International Child Health at the University of Melbourne
Theme Director of Infection and Immunity at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Group Leader of the Group A Streptococcal Research Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Paediatric infectious diseases physician in the Department of General Medicine at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne
Founding committee member and current Chair of the International Alliance for the Control of Scabies

Taken together, the diseases caused by GAS are a major cause of death and disability globally, especially in developing countries, leading to more than 500,000 premature deaths each year. The team's broad program of GAS research spans a variety of disciplines including epidemiology, public health, clinical science, and laboratory-based science.

As part of the Melbourne Children’s campus partnership between the University of Melbourne, the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, and the Royal Children’s Hospital, the Pneumococcal Research team is embedded within the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute.