Dr. Taylor-Robinson has over 30 years of research experience in tropical diseases that pose a major global public health threat. His interests include pathogen-host interactions, particularly protective-versus-pathological immune responses, in order to inform vaccine development and therapeutic regimens. This involves work on blood, liver and mosquito lifecycle stages of the malaria parasite. Over the last decade, this perspective has broadened to encompass other life-threatening and debilitating mosquito-transmitted tropical infectious diseases. These include dengue, Zika and a range of arboviruses unique to Australia, and for which native animals act as reservoir hosts.

Dr. Taylor-Robinson’s research is progressively shifting from basic to an applied investigation, with a clinical focus encompassing epidemiology, treatment, prevention and control of diseases of poverty, as well as infection outbreak preparedness and response. Current collaborations involve colleagues in endemic countries in South and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. These often consider socially innovative ways to address healthcare needs in underprivileged populations, especially in regional and remote locations. His current position affords an opportunity to undertake interdisciplinary research on vector-borne and other infectious diseases of direct relevance to urban and rural communities in Vietnam. A further project on bringing enhanced cryobiology technologies to bovine embryology involves an industrial partnership in Vietnam.

Dr Taylor-Robinson’s wide-ranging contributions to health sciences academia are recognized by election to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Royal College of Pathologists of the UK and of Australasia, Royal Society of Biology, Royal Entomological Society, Royal Society for Public Health, Institute of Biomedical Science, Australasian College of Tropical Medicine and Australian Society for Microbiology.