Dr Manuel Rodriguez Valle

Dr Manuel Rodriguez Valle

Manuel Rodriguez Valle has a major in Biochemistry, and Ph.D. in Genetics obtained at The University of Havana. During his research fellowship in the Virology Institute at the University of Kyoto, he demonstrated the effect of oncogenes on the replication of human papilloma virus. In the course of his Ph.D. thesis research, he developed a vaccine against cattle tick (Rhipicephalus microplus), and integrated methods of tick control. In parallel he was a researcher at the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at Havana, Cuba, focusing on the expression of recombinant proteins for human and animal treatment such as interferon, human tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) and vaccinal antigens. In 2007, as a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Parasitology at the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries in Queensland, Australia, he worked in reverse vaccinology, genomic and immunology applied to the study of the tick–host interaction to develop a new generation of tick vaccine.

Since 2012, Dr. Rodriguez-Valle is Senior Research Fellow at The University of Queensland/ Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation (QAAFI), focusing on the application of biotechnology and genomics to study the host–pathogen interaction to develop vaccines for the control of vector and pathogens that affect humans, domestic and wild animals. In 2013 he obtained an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) fellowship to work at USDA-ARS Knipling-Bushland, US Livestock Insects Res. Lab. on a DNA vaccine using multi-epitope genes to protect cattle against ectoparasite. In 2016 his research on genomics, proteomics and immunology studies in Ixodes holocyclus (Australian Paralysis tick) achieved to develop a novel paralysis tick vaccine and treatment. Currently, he is Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne, Department of Veterinary Bioscience, Victoria Australia, and Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland; his research is focused on functional genomics, drug development and bio-control of plant pests. Dr. Rodriguez-Valle is a member of the Australian Society of Parasitology and International Society for Pest Information (ISPI). At national and international levels, he has served as a member of Australia Research Grant Review Panel and on the editorial advisory boards of multiple journals.

Updated 3 February 2023