Rate My Professor Braeden Donaldson

Dr. Braeden Donaldson is a Senior Professional Practice Fellow in the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Health Professional Programmes, Health Sciences Division, at the University of Otago. He is also listed with the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine in Dunedin, contributing to both teaching and research activities. Donaldson earned his Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLSc) and Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Laboratory Science (PGDipMLSc) from the University of Otago. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2017 at the same institution, with a thesis titled "Immunomodulation and Vaccination with RHDV VLP," supervised by Associate Professor Sarah Young and Professor Vernon Ward. As a Fulbright alumnus, he received the Fulbright Science and Innovation Award in 2014 to conduct research on the development of an immunotherapeutic vaccine for colorectal cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Donaldson's research interests focus on the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines as novel cancer therapies, utilizing rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) virus-like particles (VLP) as a scaffold for chemical conjugation and recombinant insertion of tumour-associated antigens. These vaccines have induced potent anti-tumour immune responses in murine models of melanoma, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer, with ongoing work to adapt the platform for prostate cancer and breast cancer toward human clinical trials. His teaching commitments encompass pathology, medical laboratory science, medicine, and various health sciences courses, including serving as Paper Convener for MELS208 Introduction to Diagnostic Pathology. In recognition of his teaching excellence, Donaldson received the Medical Laboratory Science Teaching Award from the Otago Medical School - Dunedin Campus in 2020. Key publications include "Virus-like particle vaccines: immunology and formulation for clinical translation" (2018), "Multi-target chimaeric VLP as a therapeutic vaccine in a model of colorectal cancer" (2017), "Virus-Like Particles, a Versatile Subunit Vaccine Platform" (2015), and "Delivering Two Tumour Antigens Survivin and Mucin-1 on Virus-Like Particles Enhances the Anti-Tumour Immune Response" (2021).