Dr Christina Fichter

Christina is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Immunovirology and Pathogenesis Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Medicine & Health. She earned her PhD from the Kirby Institute in 2023 under the mentorship of A/Prof Stuart Turville and Prof Anthony Kelleher. As a research associate at UNSW, Christina specialises in engineering advanced delivery tools for gene therapy, with a particular focus on targeting resting CD4+ T cells. During her doctoral studies, she pioneered novel approaches to optimise the delivery of gene editing technologies, notably CRISPR/Cas9, to these cells. Her research has delved into the utilisation of bacteriophage MS2 coat proteins and their MS2 RNA stem-loops to encapsulate Cas9 mRNA within highly fusogenic viral-like particles (VLPs), demonstrating promising potential for precision targeting. Christina's expertise lies at the intersection of virology and genetic engineering, driving advancements in the field of gene therapy by enhancing the efficacy and specificity of gene editing tools. Her work not only expands our understanding of cellular delivery mechanisms but also holds significant promise for the development of next-generation therapeutic strategies.