Dr. Roland Ruscher obtained a German Diploma (~MSc) from University of Cologne and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Germany, and a PhD in 2014 in the field of immunology from University of Queensland, Translational Research Institute in Australia. He then joined Prof. Kristin Hogquist’s group at the University of Minnesota (UMN) in the USA as a Postdoctoral Fellow, where he studied the development and ontogeny of specific immune cells in the gut, named intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL). In July 2018 Dr. Ruscher returned to Australia and accepted a position sponsored by the Queensland based biotech company Paragen Bio. In 2020, he became a Research Fellow in Prof. Alex Loukas' group at James Cook University.

Dr. Ruscher's primary interests encompass intestinal and T cell immunology. The immune system and microbial community of the gut have an enormous influence on overall health, yet there are still huge knowledge gaps waiting to be explored. Dr. Ruscher strives to advance our understanding of the gut immune system, and its effects on allergies, and inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

His major scientific achievements include the discovery of a novel precursor cell to a subset of intestinal IEL (Ruscher et al., Nature Immunology 2017), and characterisation of their establishment in the gut in early life (Ruscher et al., Journal of Experimental Medicine 2020). Dr. Ruscher has also been crucially involved in defining developmental pathways of regulatory T cells (Owen et al., Nature Immunology, 2019).

Dr. Ruscher's current research focus comprises immune responses to parasitic helminths. These worms were shaped by millions of years of co-evolution with their mammalian hosts, and efficiently reduce host inflammatory responses in order to avoid expulsion. Dr. Ruscher studies such anti-inflammatory properties to harness them for the development of therapeutics. He is particularly interested in T cell responses to helminths, and how immunity at mucosal surfaces is modulated by molecules secreted by helminths.

At this early career stage, Dr. Ruscher has won multiple awards and prizes for his research (see ‘Honours’ section), gave a number of invited presentations and seminars, is currently supervising 4 PhD, MSc and Honours students, and is holding Chief Investigator (CI) positions on a NHMRC Ideas Grant and a NHMRC Development Grant, respectively (see 'Current Funding').

Interests

Research

• Mucosal immunology
• Intestinal immunology
• Intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes
• T cell responses in the gut
• Therapeutic capacities of helminth parasite derived molecules
• Inflammatory bowel disease

Experience

• 2020 to present - Postdoctoral Research Fellow, James Cook University (QLD, Australia)
• 2018 to 2019 - Research Fellow, James Cook University, ParaGen Bio (QLD, Australia)
• 2014 to 2018 - Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, Center for Immunology (MN, USA)
• 2009 to 2014 - PhD in Immunology, University of QLD, Translational Research Institute (QLD, Australia)
• 2008 to 2009 - Occupational Trainee, Univ. of QLD, Diamantina Institute (QLD, Australia)
• 2007 to 2008 - German Diploma (~MSC) Thesis, German Aerospace Center (Cologne, Germany)

Research Disciplines

• Immunology (3204)
• Medicinal and biomolecular chemistry (3404)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Expanding knowledge (2801)

Awards

• 2020 - American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Travel Award for attending the AAI 2020 (*Cancelled due to COVID-19)
• 2019 - Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) International Travel Award – Post Doctorate for attending the German Society for Immunology (DGfI) conference
• 2019 - Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI) Travel Award for attending the International Congress of Mucosal Immunology (ICMI) 2019
• 2019 - Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) Graham Jackson Memorial Prize (best speaker at mucosal immunology session)
• 2017 - Kyoto T Cell Conference (KTCC2017) Travel Award
• 2017 - Best Poster Award at the KTCC2017
• 2016 - American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Travel Grant
• 2016 - Univ. of Minnesota Center for Immunology (UMN CFI) International Travel Award
• 2012 - ASI travel bursary 2012
• 2012 - UQ Diamantina Institute Student Travel Award
• 2009 - Univ. of QLD (UQ) Inter-national Research Tuition Award (UQIRTA)

Fellowships

• 2021 - 10X "Start Single Cell" Fellowship

Memberships

• 2019 - Australian Society for Parasitology (ASP)
• 2018 - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
• 2018 - Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI)
• 2017 - Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI)
• 2016 - American Association of Immunologists (AAI)
• 2009 to 2016 - Australasian Society for Immunology (ASI)

Other

• 2021 - Editorial Board of Infectious Diseases – Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment (Review Editor) for Frontiers in Public Health and Frontiers in Medicine
• 2021 - Review Editor for Frontiers in Immunology, section Cytokines and Soluble Mediators in Immunity
• 2013 - Winner of an iQ (QLD branch of ASI) immunology competition
• 2012 - Runner-up, Univ. of QLD Diamantina Institute 3 Minute Thesis competition
• 2021 - Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology (CTBMB) Single Cell RNA Sequencing access grant
• 2020 - Center for Molecular Therapeutics Research Funding Scheme grant
• 2009 to 2013 - Univ. of QLD (UQ) Research Scholarship (UQRS)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Cobos C, Bansal P, Wilson D, Jones L, Zhao G, Field M, Eichenberger R, Pickering D, Ryan R, Ratnatunga C, Miles J, Ruscher R, Giacomin P, Navarro S, Loukas A and Daly N (2022) Peptides derived from hookworm anti-inflammatory proteins suppress inducible colitis in mice and inflammatory cytokine production by human cells. Frontiers in Medicine, 9.
• Ritmejeryte E, Ryan R, Byatt B, Peck Y, Yeshi K, Daly N, Zhao G, Crayn D, Loukas A, Pyne S, Ruscher R and Wangchuk P (2022) Anti-inflammatory properties of novel galloyl glucosides isolated from the Australian tropical plant Uromyrtus metrosideros. Chemico-Biological Interactions, 368.
• Ryan S, Ruscher R, Johnston W, Pickering D, Kennedy M, Smith B, Jones L, Buitrago G, Field M, Esterman A, McHugh C, Browne D, Cooper M, Ryan R, Doolan D, Engwerda C, Miles K, Mitreva M, Croese J, Rahman T, Alexandrov K, Giacomin P and Loukas A (2022) Novel antiinflammatory biologics shaped by parasite–host coevolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119 (36).
• Yeshi K, Ruscher R, Miles K, Crayn D, Liddell M and Wangchuk P (2022) Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Endemic Plants of the Australian Wet Tropics. Plants, 11 (19).
• Yeshi K, Ruscher R, Loukas A and Wangchuk P (2022) Immunomodulatory and biological properties of helminth-derived small molecules: Potential applications in diagnostics and therapeutics. Frontiers in Parasitology, 1.
• Buitrago G, Pickering D, Ruscher R, Cobos Caceres C, Jones L, Cooper M, Van Waardenberg A, Ryan S, Miles K, Field M, Dredge K, Daly N, Giacomin P and Loukas A (2021) A netrin domain-containing protein secreted by the human hookworm Necator americanus protects against CD4 T cell transfer colitis. Translational Research, 232. pp. 88-102
• Lee S, Georgiev H, Breed E, Ruscher R and Hogquist K (2021) MHC Class I on murine hematopoietic APC selects Type A IEL precursors in the thymus. European Journal of Immunology, 51 (5). pp. 1080-1088
• Wijeyesinghe1 S, Beura L, Pierson M, Stolley M, Adam O, Ruscher R, Steinert E, Rosato P, Vezys V and Masopust D (2021) Expansible residence decentralizes immune homeostasis. Nature, 592. pp. 457-462
• Ruscher R, Lee S, Salgado O, Breed E, Osum S and Hogquist K (2020) Intestinal CD8αα IELs derived from two distinct thymic precursors have staggered ontogeny. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 217 (8).
• Ryan S, Eichenberger R, Ruscher R, Giacomin P and Loukas A (2020) Harnessing helminth-driven immunoregulation in the search for novel therapeutic modalities. PLoS Pathogens, 16 (5).
• Yeshi K, Ruscher R, Hunter L, Daly N, Loukas A and Wangchuk P (2020) Revisiting inflammatory bowel disease: pathology, treatments, challenges and emerging therapeutics including drug leads from natural products. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9 (5).
• Owen D, Mahmud S, Sjaastad L, Williams J, Spanier J, Simeonov D, Ruscher R, Huang W, Miller C, Hekim C, Jeschkle J, Aggarwal P, Broeckel U, LaRue R, Henzler C, Alegre M, Anderson M, August A, Marson A, Zheng Y, Williams C and Farrar M (2019) Thymic regulatory T cells arise via two distinct developmental programs. Nature Immunology, 20. pp. 195-205

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 26+ research outputs authored by Dr Roland Ruscher from 2007 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Structure and Function of Novel Peptides from Cone Snail Venom (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Novel type 2 diabetes therapeutics from recombinant human hookworm secretome (PhD , Secondary Advisor)
• Genetic and Functional Imprinting of Intestinal T Cells by Age and Microbial diversity (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• The Role of Intestinal T Cells in Gut Homeostasis and Disease (PhD , Primary Advisor)
• Ethnobotany and drug discovery of Mbabaram Aboriginal medicinal plants (Masters , Secondary Advisor)

Completed

• Biodiscovery of anti-inflammatory drug lead molecules from Australian wet tropics plants and parasites (2023, PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.