Rate My Professor Joanna Kirman

Associate Professor Joanna Kirman is an immunologist serving as Head of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Otago. She earned her BSc (Hons) and PhD from the University of Otago, completing her doctorate in 1999. Following her PhD, she undertook postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health in the United States in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Seder, focusing on tuberculosis research. Returning to New Zealand, she held an HRC Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship and led the Infectious Diseases Group at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, she joined the University of Otago as a senior lecturer, advancing to Associate Professor. She also directs Health Sciences First Year and teaches courses including MICR 223 Infection and Immunity (convenor), MICR 334 Advanced Immunology, and MICR 464 Medical Microbiology and Immunology.

Kirman's research centers on applied cellular and molecular immunology, medical microbiology, and vaccine immunology, with emphasis on tuberculosis (TB), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rotavirus. Her work elucidates protective immune responses to TB, investigating BCG vaccine mechanisms such as trained innate immunity, phagocytic cell roles, and unconventional lymphocytes like innate lymphoid cells. Funded projects include Marsden Fund-supported studies on Beijing TB strain evasion of BCG immunity and novel TB vaccine designs, as well as Otago Medical Research Foundation work on phagocytic cells in anti-mycobacterial immunity. She has supervised postgraduate students who earned awards like the David T Jones Prize and John Miles Prize, with alumni in prominent research roles globally. Selected publications include Kirman, J. R., Weinkove, R., & Borger, J. G. (2024). Immunology across two islands: understanding the research landscape of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Immunology & Cell Biology, 102(4), 235-239; Kirman et al. (2016). Microbiol Spectr, 4(6); and Steigler et al. (2018). Immunol Cell Biol, 96:379. Kirman contributes to public outreach on vaccines and infectious diseases.