Rate My Professor Emily Edwards

Dr. Emily Edwards serves as Group Leader of the Primary Immunodeficiencies research group in the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Department of Immunology, School of Translational Medicine, Monash University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Applied Biomedical Science from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff, completed in 2007, and a PhD from Cardiff University, where her thesis examined killer immunoglobulin-like receptor gene diversity in a cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis. Post-PhD, Edwards relocated to Australia for postdoctoral training at Monash University, advancing to Senior Postdoctoral Fellow in 2018. With 18 years of experience in immunology and 12 years focused on primary immunodeficiencies, she oversees her research group and contributes to laboratory operations while fostering national and international collaborations across clinical and research sectors. Edwards is also affiliated with the Immunology unit at Alfred Hospital and is a member of the Jeffrey Modell Foundation Centre.

Edwards' research specializes in primary immunodeficiencies, particularly identifying genetic and functional defects in B cells and T cells underlying predominantly antibody deficiencies, alongside studies on vaccine responses in affected patients. Key publications include 'Novel SYK Variant Causes Enhanced SYK Autophosphorylation and B Cell Hyperactivation' (2025), 'Hyperactivation of the PI3K Pathway in Inborn Errors of Immunity' (2024), 'Third Dose COVID-19 Vaccination Elicits Immune Memory in Patients with Antibody Deficiency' (2025), 'Influenza-specific IgG1+ Memory B-cell Numbers Increase Following Influenza Vaccination' (2020), and 'Accurate Determination of House Dust Mite Sensitization in Asthma Using Mass Cytometry' (2024). She received the 2022 Grifols ASPIRE Award for Scientific Progress in Immunodeficiency Research, recognizing her work advancing genetic diagnosis of antibody deficiencies, and the Allergy and Immunology Foundation of Australasia Primary Immunodeficiencies Research Grant. As a patient advocate and rare disease researcher, Edwards impacts clinical immunology through her contributions to understanding immune senescence, metabolic rewiring in mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroimmune regulation.