Researcher biography
Liam is a tumour immunologist currently utilizing in vivo models, flow cytometry and genomics to evaluate preclinical mRNA immunotherapies.
Liam has expertise utilizing various preclinical models, multi-color flow cytometry for the functional characterization of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, and has developed in vivo systems to assess immunotherapy efficacy along with T cell exhaustion, proliferation, and killing capacity. He has hands-on experience with development of next-generation humanized NSG models and a wide breadth of in vitro immunological assays.
Funding
- UQ APA scholarship Recipient 2018-2022 ($27,032 per year) - Frank Clair Scholarship Recipient 2018-2022 ($16,000) - Tour de Cure PhD Support Grant Recipient 2019 ($10,000) - Australian Society of Immunology Travel Award 2019 ($3,000) - Mater Higher Degree Research Biomedical Student prize, 2021 ($1,000) - 1st Prize; Basic Laboratory Science Poster, Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) Health Symposium 2019 ($250)
Key Publications
Lee YS*, O'Brien LJ*, Walpole CM, Pearson FE, Leal-Rojas IM, Masterman KA, Atkinson V, Barbour A, Radford KJ. Human CD141+ dendritic cells (cDC1) are impaired in patients with advanced melanoma but can be targeted to enhance anti-PD-1 in a humanized mouse model. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Mar;9(3):e001963. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-001963. PMID: 33737342; PMCID: PMC7978242. *Joint first authors
O'Brien L, Buckle I, Leal-Rojas IM, Rosendahl N, Radford KJ. Human cDC1 enhance cytotoxic function of CD226+ terminally exhausted tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Oncoimmunology. 2025 Dec;14(1):2521391. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2025.2521391. Epub 2025 Jun 23. PMID: 40548437.
O'Brien LJ, Walpole CM, Leal-Rojas IM, Shatunova S, Moore A, Winkler IG, Guillerey C, Radford KJ. Characterization of Human Engraftment and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in NSG-SGM3 Neonate Mice Engrafted with Purified CD34+ Hematopoietic Stem Cells. Exp Hematol. 2024 Feb;130:104134. doi: 10.1016/j.exphem.2023.11.008. Epub 2023 Dec 4. PMID: 38052261.
O'Brien LJ, Guillerey C, Radford KJ. Can Dendritic Cell Vaccination Prevent Leukemia Relapse? Cancers (Basel). 2019 Jun 22;11(6):875. doi: 10.3390/cancers11060875. PMID: 31234526; PMCID: PMC6627518.
Masterman KA, Haigh OL, Tullett KM, Leal-Rojas IM, Walpole C, Pearson FE, Cebon J, Schmidt C, O'Brien L, Rosendahl N, Daraj G, Caminschi I, Gschweng EH, Hollis RP, Kohn DB, Lahoud MH, Radford KJ. Human CLEC9A antibodies deliver NY-ESO-1 antigen to CD141+ dendritic cells to activate naïve and memory NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cells. J Immunother Cancer. 2020 Jul;8(2):e000691. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-000691. PMID: 32737142; PMCID: PMC7394304.