Stefan Oehlers, Centenary Institute
Centenary Institute
Associate Faculty
Oehlers graduated with a PhD from the University of Auckland in 2012 after creating zebrafish models of human inflammatory bowel disease (supervised by Professor Phil Crosier). His postdoctoral position at Duke University extended his training into infectious disease research where he used the zebrafish model to made major contributions to our understanding of tuberculosis (TB) infection and cryptococcal meningitis. Oehlers’ lab has been active since the 2017 and has produced 12 publications (6 senior, 2 first, and 4 middle author) in under 3 years. Oehlers and his team have graduated 2 PhDs, 1 Masters, and 4 Hons students. Two Honours students attained Class 1, all four Honours students gained entry further study (medicine, vet and PhD), and one of his three summer students was a finalist for the 2019 Dean’s Prize. Oehlers and his team studies the effects of tuberculosis infection on non-immune cells around the TB granuloma with the objective of reversing targeting these cells via host-directed therapy. This work has shifted the paradigm of increased haemostasis in TB from being viewed as a symptom of infection to a primary driver of TB pathogenesis.