Rate My Professor Manisha Pandey

Associate Professor Manisha Pandey serves as a Research Leader in the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics at Griffith University. She is a microbiologist specializing in bacterial pathogenesis and vaccine development, with a primary focus on Group A Streptococcus (Strep A) infections. Pandey earned her PhD from the Central Drug Research Institute in Lucknow, India, from July 1992 to February 1996. Her career at Griffith University includes progression to Associate Professor, where she leads vaccine research initiatives. She supervises postgraduate students for Masters and PhD programs and contributes to the Institute for Glycomics Research and Research Training Committee since February 2022. Pandey holds the position of Vice-President of the Lancefield Society, supporting international streptococcal research.

Pandey's research has advanced novel Strep A vaccine candidates, including peptide-based immunogens and nasal delivery approaches, in collaboration with Professor Michael Good. Her team conducted the world's first human challenge trial for a Strep A vaccine and explores immunological memory constraints in pyoderma infections. Key publications include 'Streptococcal Immunity Is Constrained by Lack of Immunological Memory following a Single Episode of Pyoderma' (PLOS Pathogens, 2016), 'Antibodies to the Conserved Region of the M Protein and Protection against Group A Streptococcus Challenge' (Vaccine, 2019), 'Prime-Pull Immunization with a Bivalent M-Protein and SpyCEP Conjugate Vaccine' (Frontiers in Immunology, 2021), 'Preclinical Safety and Immunogenicity of Streptococcus pyogenes Peptide Vaccines' (Scientific Reports, 2021), and 'Vaccine via the Nasal Passage Could Be the New Line of Defence against Strep A' (news feature, 2023). She has secured major funding, including over $1.7 million from the National Health and Medical Research Council and contributions to a $5 million philanthropic donation for vaccine development. Awards include the Institute for Glycomics Research Excellence Award for her vaccine work and nomination for the Vice Chancellor's Research Excellence Awards. Her contributions address global health challenges, particularly rheumatic heart disease in developing regions.