Adjunct Associate Lecturer

Dr Alberto Ospina Stella

Dr. Ospina Stella is a virologist and molecular medicine scientist at the Kirby Institute, whose collaborative research focuses on the characterization of immune responses and their role in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral infections. His work has directly contributed to the development of new vaccines and immunotherapeutics against COVID-19, including the SpikoGen^® vaccine, hyperimmune immunoglobulins, and sotrovimab. Alberto’s research has also been cited in health policy documents by the CDC and public health advisory groups in Canada, Ireland, and Australia.

Other areas of expertise encompass the development and optimization of high-throughput assays, including validation to regulator-licensed and GMP standards as needed. Broader research interests also include antibody engineering, host-pathogen interactions, and host-directed antiviral therapies.

Qualifications:
PhD, M.Sc., B.Sc., AFHEA

Publications:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kNXqF2oAAAAJ&hl=en

E-mail

aospinastella@kirby.unsw.edu.au

Publications

Publications

Journal articles

Bowden-Reid E; Ledger S; Zhang Y; Di Giallonardo F; Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Akerman A; Milogiannakis V; Walker G; Rawlinson W; Turville S; Kelleher AD; Ahlenstiel C, 2023, 'Novel siRNA therapeutics demonstrate multi-variant efficacy against SARS-CoV-2', Antiviral Research, 217, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105677

2023

Beaton B; Sasson SC; Rankin K; Raedemaeker J; Wong A; Hastak P; Phetsouphanh C; Warden A; Klemm V; Munier CML; Hoppe AC; Tea F; Pillay A; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Lavee O; Caterson ID; Turville S; Kelleher AD; Brilot F; Trotman J; Carey Hoppe A, 2023, 'Patients with treated indolent lymphomas immunized with BNT162b2 have reduced anti-spike neutralizing IgG to SARS-CoV-2 variants, but preserved antigen-specific T cell responses', American Journal of Hematology, 98, pp. 131 - 139, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajh.26619

2023

Loo L; Waller MA; Moreno CL; Cole AJ; Stella AO; Pop OT; Jochum AK; Ali OH; Denes CE; Hamoudi Z; Chung F; Aggarwal A; Low JKK; Patel K; Siddiquee R; Kang T; Mathivanan S; Mackay JP; Jochum W; Flatz L; Hesselson D; Turville S; Gregory Neely G, 2023, 'Fibroblast-expressed LRRC15 is a receptor for SARS-CoV-2 spike and controls antiviral and antifibrotic transcriptional programs', PLoS Biology, 21, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001967

2023

Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Henry CC; Narayan K; Turville SG, 2022, 'Embedding of HIV Egress within Cortical F-Actin', Pathogens, 11, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11010056

2022

Perkins GB; Tunbridge M; Salehi T; Chai CS; Kireta S; Johnston J; Penko D; Nitschke J; Yeow AEL; Al-Delfi Z; Drogemuller CJ; Garcia-Valtanen P; Masavuli MG; Hope CM; Singer J; Aggarwal A; Ospina Stella A; Turville SG; Hurtado PR; Barry SC; Hissaria P; Grubor-Bauk B; Chadban SJ; Coates PT, 2022, 'Concurrent vaccination of kidney transplant recipients and close household cohabitants against COVID-19', Kidney International, 101, pp. 1077 - 1080, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.kint.2022.02.015

2022

Counoupas C; Pino P; Stella AO; Ashley C; Lukeman H; Bhattacharyya ND; Tada T; Anchisi S; Metayer C; Martinis J; Aggarwal A; Dcosta BM; Britton WJ; Kint J; Wurm MJ; Landau NR; Steain M; Turville SG; Wurm FM; David SA; Triccas JA, 2022, 'High-Titer Neutralizing Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Induced by Alhydroxyquim-II-Adjuvanted Trimeric Spike Antigens', Microbiology Spectrum, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.01695-21

2022

Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Walker G; Akerman A; Esneau C; Milogiannakis V; Burnett DL; McAllery S; Silva MR; Lu Y; Foster CSP; Brilot F; Pillay A; Van Hal S; Mathivanan V; Fichter C; Kindinger A; Hoppe AC; Munier ML; Amatayakul-Chantler S; Roth N; Coppola G; Symonds GP; Schofield P; Jackson J; Lenthall H; Henry JY; Mazigi O; Jäck HM; Davenport MP; Darley DR; Matthews GV; Khoury DS; Cromer D; Goodnow CC; Christ D; Robosa R; Starck DJ; Bartlett NW; Rawlinson WD; Kelleher AD; Turville SG; Ruiz Silva M, 2022, 'Platform for isolation and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variants enables rapid characterization of Omicron in Australia', Nature Microbiology, 7, pp. 896 - 908, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41564-022-01135-7

2022

Garcia-Valtanen P; Hope CM; Masavuli MG; Yeow AEL; Balachandran H; Mekonnen ZA; Al-Delfi Z; Abayasingam A; Agapiou D; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Bouras G; Gummow J; Ferguson C; O'Connor S; McCartney EM; Lynn DJ; Maddern G; Gowans EJ; Reddi BAJ; Shaw D; Kok-Lim C; Beard MR; Weiskopf D; Sette A; Turville SG; Bull RA; Barry SC; Grubor-Bauk B, 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant escapes neutralizing antibodies and T cell responses more efficiently than other variants in mild COVID-19 convalescents', Cell Reports Medicine, 3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100651

2022

Aggarwal A; Akerman A; Milogiannakis V; Silva MR; Walker G; Stella AO; Kindinger A; Angelovich T; Waring E; Amatayakul-Chantler S; Roth N; Manni S; Hauser T; Barnes T; Condylios A; Yeang M; Wong M; Jean T; Foster CSP; Christ D; Hoppe AC; Munier ML; Darley D; Churchill M; Stark DJ; Matthews G; Rawlinson WD; Kelleher AD; Turville SG, 2022, 'SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.5: Evolving tropism and evasion of potent humoral responses and resistance to clinical immunotherapeutics relative to viral variants of concern', eBioMedicine, 84, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104270

2022

Balachandran H; Phetsouphanh C; Agapiou D; Adhikari A; Rodrigo C; Hammoud M; Shrestha LB; Keoshkerian E; Gupta M; Turville S; Christ D; King C; Sasson SC; Bartlett A; Grubor-Bauk B; Rawlinson W; Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Klemm V; Mina MM; Post JJ; Hudson B; Gilroy N; Konecny P; Ahlenstiel G; Dwyer DE; Sorrell TC; Kelleher A; Tedla N; Lloyd AR; Martinello M; Bull RA, 2022, 'Maintenance of broad neutralizing antibodies and memory B cells 1 year post-infection is predicted by SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell responses', Cell Reports, 38, pp. 110345, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110345

2022

Phetsouphanh C; Khoo WH; Jackson K; Klemm V; Howe A; Aggarwal A; Akerman A; Milogiannakis V; Stella AO; Rouet R; Schofield P; Faulks ML; Law H; Danwilai T; Starr M; Munier CML; Christ D; Singh M; Croucher PI; Brilot-Turville F; Turville S; Phan TG; Dore GJ; Darley D; Cunningham P; Matthews GV; Kelleher AD; Zaunders JJ, 2022, 'High titre neutralizing antibodies in response to SARS–CoV–2 infection require RBD–specific CD4 T cells that include proliferative memory cells', Frontiers in Immunology, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.1032911

2022

Beaton B; Sasson SC; Rankin K; Raedemaeker J; Wong A; Hastak P; Warden A; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Caterson ID; Phetsouphanh C; Turville S; Kelleher AD; Brilot F; Trotman J, 2021, 'Efficacy of Vaccine BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) in Individuals with Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia and Follicular Lymphoma in Australia', BLOOD, 138, http://dx.doi.org/10.1182/blood-2021-149348

2021

Walker GJ; Naing Z; Stella AO; Yeang M; Caguicla J; Ramachandran V; Isaacs SR; Agapiou D; Bull RA; Stelzer-Braid S; Daly J; Gosbell IB; Hoad VC; Irving DO; Pink JM; Turville S; Kelleher AD; Rawlinson WD, 2021, 'Sars coronavirus-2 microneutralisation and commercial serological assays correlated closely for some but not all enzyme immunoassays', Viruses, 13, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v13020247

2021

Abayasingam A; Balachandran H; Agapiou D; Hammoud M; Rodrigo C; Keoshkerian E; Li H; Brasher NA; Christ D; Rouet R; Burnet D; Grubor-Bauk B; Rawlinson W; Turville S; Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Fichter C; Brilot F; Mina M; Post JJ; Hudson B; Gilroy N; Dwyer D; Sasson SC; Tea F; Pilli D; Kelleher A; Tedla N; Lloyd AR; Martinello M; Bull RA; Burnett D, 2021, 'Long-term persistence of RBD⁺ memory B cells encoding neutralizing antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 infection', Cell Reports Medicine, 2, pp. 100228, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100228

2021

Tea F; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Darley DR; Pilli D; Vitale D; Merheb V; Lee FXZ; Cunningham P; Walker GJ; Fichter C; Brown DA; Rawlinson WD; Isaacs SR; Mathivanan V; Hoffmann M; Pöhlman S; Mazigi O; Christ D; Rockett RJ; Sintchenko V; Hoad VC; Irving DO; Dore GJ; Gosbell IB; Kelleher AD; Matthews GV; Brilot F; Turville SG, 2021, 'SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies: Longevity, breadth, and evasion by emerging viral variants', PLoS Medicine, 18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003656

2021

Estcourt LJ; Turgeon AF; McQuilten ZK; McVerry BJ; Al-Beidh F; Annane D; Arabi YM; Arnold DM; Beane A; Bégin P; Van Bentum-Puijk W; Berry LR; Bhimani Z; Birchall JE; Bonten MJM; Bradbury CA; Brunkhorst FM; Buxton M; Callum JL; Chassé M; Cheng AC; Cove ME; Daly J; Derde L; Detry MA; De Jong M; Evans A; Fergusson DA; Fish M; Fitzgerald M; Foley C; Goossens H; Gordon AC; Gosbell IB; Green C; Haniffa R; Harvala H; Higgins AM; Hills TE; Hoad VC; Horvat C; Huang DT; Hudson CL; Ichihara N; Laing E; Lamikanra AA; Lamontagne F; Lawler PR; Linstrum K; Litton E; Lorenzi E; Maclennan S; Marshall J; McAuley DF; McDyer JF; McGlothlin A; McGuinness S; Miflin G; Montgomery S; Mouncey PR; Murthy S; Nichol A; Parke R; Parker JC; Priddee N; Purcell DFJ; Reyes LF; Richardson P; Robitaille N; Rowan KM; Rynne J; Saito H; Santos M; Saunders CT; Serpa Neto A; Seymour CW; Silversides JA; Tinmouth AA; Triulzi DJ; Turner AM; Van De Veerdonk F; Walsh TS; Wood EM; Berry S; Lewis RJ; Menon DK; McArthur C; Zarychanski R; Angus DC; Webb SA; Roberts DJ; Shankar-Hari M, 2021, 'Effect of Convalescent Plasma on Organ Support-Free Days in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: A Randomized Clinical Trial', JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association, 326, pp. 1690 - 1702, http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.18178

2021

Li L; Honda-Okubo Y; Huang Y; Jang H; Carlock MA; Baldwin J; Piplani S; Bebin-Blackwell AG; Forgacs D; Sakamoto K; Stella A; Turville S; Chataway T; Colella A; Triccas J; Ross TM; Petrovsky N, 2021, 'Immunisation of ferrets and mice with recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein formulated with Advax-SM adjuvant protects against COVID-19 infection', Vaccine, 39, pp. 5940 - 5953, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.07.087

2021

Burnett DL; Jackson KJL; Langley DB; Aggrawal A; Stella AO; Johansen MD; Balachandran H; Lenthall H; Rouet R; Walker G; Saunders BM; Singh M; Li H; Henry JY; Jackson J; Stewart AG; Witthauer F; Spence MA; Hansbro NG; Jackson C; Schofield P; Milthorpe C; Martinello M; Schulz SR; Roth E; Kelleher A; Emery S; Britton WJ; Rawlinson WD; Karl R; Schäfer S; Winkler TH; Brink R; Bull RA; Hansbro PM; Jäck HM; Turville S; Christ D; Goodnow CC, 2021, 'Immunizations with diverse sarbecovirus receptor-binding domains elicit SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies against a conserved site of vulnerability', Immunity, 54, pp. 2908 - 2921.e6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2021.10.019

2021

Counoupas C; Johansen MD; Stella AO; Nguyen DH; Ferguson AL; Aggarwal A; Bhattacharyya ND; Grey A; Hutchings O; Patel K; Siddiquee R; Stewart EL; Feng CG; Hansbro NG; Palendira U; Steain MC; Saunders BM; Low JKK; Mackay JP; Kelleher AD; Britton WJ; Turville SG; Hansbro PM; Triccas JA, 2021, 'A single dose, BCG-adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine provides sterilising immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection', npj Vaccines, 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41541-021-00406-4

2021

Van Bockel D; Munier CML; Turville S; Badman SG; Walker G; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Yeang M; Condylios A; Kelleher AD; Applegate TL; Vallely A; Whiley D; Rawlinson W; Cunningham P; Kaldor J; Guy R, 2020, 'Evaluation of commercially available viral transport medium (VTM) for SARS-CoV-2 inactivation and use in point-of-care (POC) testing', Viruses, 12, pp. 1208, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v12111208

2020

Walker G; Naing Z; Stella AO; Yeang M; Caguicla J; Ramachandran V; Isaacs S; Agapiou D; Bull R; Stelzer-Braid S; Daly J; Gosbell I; Hoad V; Irving D; Pink J; Turville S; Kelleher A; Rawlinson W, 2020, 'SARS Coronavirus-2 microneutralisation and commercial serological assays correlated closely for some but not all enzyme immunoassays', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.07.20245696

2020

Walker G; Clifford V; Bansal N; Stella AO; Turville S; Stelzer-Braid S; Klein L; Rawlinson W, 2020, 'SARS-CoV-2 in human milk is inactivated by Holder pasteurization but not cold storage', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.18.20134395

2020

Stelzer-Braid S; Walker GJ; Aggarwal A; Isaacs SR; Yeang M; Naing Z; Ospina Stella A; Turville SG; Rawlinson WD, 2020, 'Virus isolation of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) for diagnostic and research purposes', Pathology, 52, pp. 760 - 763, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pathol.2020.09.012

2020

Walker GJ; Clifford V; Bansal N; Stella AO; Turville S; Stelzer-Braid S; Klein LD; Rawlinson W, 2020, 'SARS-CoV-2 in human milk is inactivated by Holder pasteurisation but not cold storage', Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 56, pp. 1872 - 1874, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jpc.15065

2020

Tea F; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Darley DR; Pilli D; Vitale D; Merheb V; Lee FXZ; Cunningham P; Walker GJ; Brown DA; Rawlinson WD; Isaacs SR; Mathivanan V; Hoffman M; Pöhlmann S; Dwyer DE; Rockett R; Sintchenko V; Hoad VC; Irving DO; Dore GJ; Gosbell IB; Kelleher AD; Matthews GV; Brilot F; Turville SG, 2020, 'SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies; longevity, breadth, and evasion by emerging viral variants', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.19.20248567

2020

Hu W; Cai Y; Zhu Y; Li F; Stella AO; Tebas P; Mounzer K; Kostman J; Turville S; Montaner L, 2019, 'Cleaving HIV-1 provirus from ART-suppressed patient-derived resting CD4 T Cells using Cpf1/crRNA-array ribonucleotide protein packaged by CD4-targeting lentivirus-like particle', Journal of Virus Eradication, 5, pp. 55 - 56, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s2055-6640(20)30221-1

2019

Aggarwal A; Ospina Stella A; Henry C; Narayan K; Turville S, 2019, 'HIV corruption of the Arp2/3-Cdc42-IQGAP1 axis to hijack cortical F-Actin to promote cell-cell viral spread', , http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.13.873612

2019

Stella AO; Turville S, 2018, 'All-round manipulation of the actin cytoskeleton by HIV', Viruses, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v10020063

2018

Kaspar D; Auer F; Schardt J; Schindele F; Ospina A; Held C; Ehrenreich A; Scherer S; Müller-Herbst S, 2014, 'Temperature- and nitrogen source-dependent regulation of GlnR target genes in Listeria monocytogenes', FEMS Microbiology Letters, 355, pp. 131 - 141, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1574-6968.12458

2014

Preprints

Moreno C; Castanheira F; Stella AO; Chung F; Aggarwal A; Cole A; Loo L; Dupuy A; Kong Y; Hagimola L; Fenwick J; Coleman P; Willson M; Bui-Marinos M; Hesselson D; Gamble J; Passam F; Turville S; Kubes P; Neely G, 2023, P-Selectin promotes SARS-CoV-2 interactions with platelets and the endothelium, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.02.13.528235

2023

Aggarwal A; Stella A; Akerman A; Walker G; Milogiannakis V; McAllery S; Esneau C; Silva MR; Lu Y; Forster C; Hal SV; Mathivanan V; Fitcher C; Hoppe AC; Munier ML; Darley D; Matthews G; Starck D; Robosa R; Bartlett N; Rawlinson W; Kelleher A; Turville S, 2022, Rapid isolation and resolution immune evasion and viral fitness across contemporary SARS-CoV-2 variants, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1210846/v1

2022

Loo L; Waller M; Cole A; Stella A; Moreno C; Denes C; Hamoudi Z; Chung F; Aggarwal A; Low J; Patel K; Siddiquee R; Mackay J; Turville S; Hesselson D; Neely G, 2022, LRRC15 suppresses SARS-CoV-2 infection and controls collagen production, http://dx.doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1172665/v1

2022

Garcia-Valtanen P; Hope C; Masavuli M; Lip Yeow AE; Balachandran H; Mekonnen Z; Al-Delfi Z; Abayasingam A; Agapiou D; Stella AO; Aggarwal A; Gummow J; Ferguson C; O’Connor S; McCartney E; Lynn D; Maddern G; Gowans E; Reddi BAJ; Shaw D; Kok-Lim C; Turville S; Beard M; Weiskopf D; Sette A; Bull R; Barry S; Grubor-Bauk B, 2021, COVID-19 convalescents exhibit deficient humoral and T cell responses to variant of concern Spike antigens at 12 month post-infection, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.08.21266035

2021

Counoupas C; Pino P; Stella A; Ashley C; Lukeman H; Bhattacharyya N; Tada T; Anchisi S; Metayer C; Martinis J; Aggarwal A; Dcosta B; Kint J; Wurm M; Landau N; Steain M; Turville S; Wurm F; David S; Triccas J, 2021, Neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant induced by Alhydroxyquim-II-adjuvanted trimeric spike antigens, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.18.456891

2021

Li L; Honda-Okubo Y; Huang Y; Jang H; Carlock MA; Baldwin J; Piplani S; Bebin-Blackwell AG; Forgacs D; Sakamoto K; Stella A; Turville S; Chataway T; Colella A; Triccas J; Ross TM; Petrovsky N, 2021, Immunisation of ferrets and mice with recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike protein formulated with Advax-SM adjuvant protects against COVID-19 infection, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.07.03.451026

2021

Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Walker G; Akerman A; Milogiannakis V; Brilot F; Amatayakul-Chantler S; Roth N; Coppola G; Schofield P; Jackson J; Henry J; Mazigi O; Langley D; Lu Y; Forster C; McAllery S; Mathivanan V; Fichter C; Hoppe AC; Munier ML; Jack H-M; Cromer D; Darley D; Matthews G; Christ D; Khoury D; Davenport M; Rawlinson W; Kelleher A; Turville S, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron: evasion of potent humoral responses and resistance to clinical immunotherapeutics relative to viral variants of concern, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.14.21267772

2021

Loo L; Waller M; Moreno C; Cole A; Stella AO; Pop O-T; Jochum A-K; Ali OH; Denes C; Denes C; Hamoudi Z; Chung F; Aggarwal A; Low J; Patel K; Siddiquee R; Kang T; Mathivanan S; Mackay J; Flatz L; Hesselson D; Turville S; Neely G, 2021, Fibroblast-expressed LRRC15 suppresses SARS-CoV-2 infection and controls antiviral and antifibrotic transcriptional programs, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2021.11.09.467981

2021

Balachandran H; Phetsouphanh C; Agapiou D; Adhikari A; Rodrigo C; Hammoud M; Shrestha LB; Keoshkerian E; Gupta M; Turville S; Christ D; King C; Sasson S; Bartlett A; Grubor-Bauk B; Rawlinson W; Aggarwal A; Stella AO; Klemm V; Mina MM; Post JJ; Hudson B; Gilroy N; Konecny P; Ahlenstiel G; Dwyer D; Sorrell TC; Kelleher A; Tedla N; Lloyd AR; Martinello M; Bull RA, Maintenance of Broad Neutralising Antibodies and Memory B Cells 12 Months Post-Infection Is Predicted by SARS-CoV-2 Specific CD4+ T Cell Responses, http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3920641

Dr Alberto Ospina Stella

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Dr Alberto Ospina Stella

Publications

Journal articles

Preprints