About
A/Prof Katja Fischer (ARC Future Fellow 2013, NHMRC SRF 2019) is a Group Leader at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. She completed her undergraduate training as a molecular Parasitologist at the University of Freiburg, Germany, followed by a PhD in molecular biology of malaria parasites at the University of Würzburg, Germany, followed by post doc positions at QIMR Berghofer MRI. Here she became Laboratory Head in 2007 and Group Leader in 2013. Her laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer MRI is one of very few groups worldwide providing crucial biomedical research towards reducing scabies and associated secondary infections.
Area of Interest
Scabies and associated bacterial skin infections continue to be a global problem. They result in a truly neglected, underrated yet significant health burden associated with overcrowding of people living in remoteness and poverty, including Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. There is no vaccine for scabies, only few suboptimal broad-spectrum anti-parasitic drugs and mite resistance against these drugs emerging. Another major challenge is the lack of early diagnostic markers for infection, to distinguish scabies from numerous skin conditions with similar symptoms. Dr Fischer is leading the only Australian group exploring scabies molecular biology in a formal, long-term, continuously funded research program. Our program drives the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Our research has changed the knowledge of mite biology, scabies pathogenesis and the mechanisms underlying the three-way interactions between mites, bacteria and the skin immune system. We have attracted a critical mass of the best expert collaborating scientists and established essential industry links for the successful implementation of this multi-center, multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary program. Our work has major translational implications, globally and for Australian Indigenous patients.