Rate My Professor Ranjeny Thomas

Professor Ranjeny Thomas holds the Arthritis Queensland Chair of Rheumatology and is Professor of Rheumatology in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland's Frazer Institute, Translational Research Institute. She graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) in 1984, a Doctoral Diploma of Medicine, and trained as a rheumatologist in Perth. In 1990, she commenced a research fellowship with Peter Lipsky at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where she first identified and characterised human circulating dendritic cell precursors. Currently, she serves as a consultant rheumatologist at Princess Alexandra Hospital and has founded two spin-off companies focused on immunotherapy: Dendright (2006-2021) and Liperate (2022). Thomas is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for her contributions to medicine.

Her research program centers on the biology and clinical use of human dendritic cells in autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, and spondyloarthropathies. She has explored mechanisms of immunity, dendritic cell function, and immune tolerance restoration, leading to the development of innovative therapies such as dendritic cell-based citrullinated antigen-specific immunotherapy—the first proof-of-concept trial in rheumatoid arthritis—and liposome immunotherapies that target dendritic cells to induce antigen-specific tolerance. Notable publications include "Citrullinated peptide dendritic cell immunotherapy in HLA risk genotype–positive rheumatoid arthritis patients" (2015), "Self-adjuvanting nanoemulsion targeting dendritic cell receptor Clec9A enables antigen-specific immunotherapy" (2018), "A molecular basis for the association of the HLA-DRB1 locus, citrullination, and rheumatoid arthritis" (2013), and recent works on gut dysbiosis in spondyloarthritis (2025-2026). Her contributions have resulted in paradigm-shifting treatments, clinical trials (e.g., DEN-181 with Janssen, ASITI-201 for type 1 diabetes), partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and foundations, patents, and economic impact through job creation and commercialization grants. Leading the Thomas Group at Frazer Institute, she advances preclinical models, biomarkers, and antigen-specific therapies for autoimmune conditions.