Professor Jason Mackenzie is a Professor in Microbiology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Sciences, within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Affiliated with the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, he heads the Mackenzie laboratory, leading a team of post-doctoral researchers and PhD students. His research employs multidisciplinary approaches, including virology, cell biology, innate immunity studies, and electron microscopy, to investigate how viruses such as flaviviruses—including West Nile virus and dengue virus—noroviruses, and coronaviruses establish intracellular replicative niches. The work examines viral impacts on host cell functions, including membrane remodeling, cellular stress responses, metabolic pathways, autophagy, and evasion of innate immune responses. Specific projects explore West Nile virus replication complexes and cellular stress, norovirus replication and innate immunity, autophagy in norovirus infection, the role of cellular lipids in flavivirus replication, and development of antiviral and vaccine strategies.

Mackenzie obtained his BSc in Microbiology from the University of Otago, New Zealand, and his PhD in Virology from the University of Queensland. In 2002, he received a fellowship to conduct research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. He joined La Trobe University in 2007 as an academic in the Department of Microbiology. Subsequently, he moved to a teaching and research position in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, where he was promoted to Professor. Recognized as an international expert on flavivirus and norovirus replication and pathogenesis, he actively contributes to the virology community as an Executive Committee member of the Australasian Virology Society and through involvement in local organizing committees for national virology meetings. He serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Virology, Virology, and Molecular Microbiology, and as Section Editor for (+)RNA viruses in the Virology Journal. Mackenzie is an alumnus of EMBL and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Professional Email: jason.mackenzie@unimelb.edu.au