Professor Christopher Parish

Biography

 Professor Parish is a Professorial Fellow and leader of the Cancer and Vascular Biology Group in the Department of Immunology at the Australian National University’s John Curtin School of Medical Research.  During the past 30 years he has investigated various aspects of the immune system.  During the early 1970s he was the first person to demonstrate that cell-mediated immunity and antibody formation are mutually antagonistic responses.  This phenomenon, termed immune deviation, has been recognised as playing a critical role in the development of autoimmune disease and in resistance or susceptibility to different infections.  In recent years he has been particularly interested in the role that complex carbohydrates play in cell adhesion and cell migration.  These studies have formed the theoretical basis for the development of a number of carbohydrate-based drugs that inhibit inflammation, tumour metastasis and angiogenesis - the most highly developed being the anti-cancer drug PI-88 which is entering Phase III clinical trials. 

Research Interest

 Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics