Dr Alexandra Spencer is an immunology lecturer at the University of Newcastle and leads the Vaccination and Infection Immunology research group based at the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
Her research is focussed on understanding how early changes in immune activation, driven by the choice of vaccine or route of administration, will shape the quality of the adaptive immune response.

She has extensive experience measuring vaccine induced immune responses, gained through 16 years at the University of Oxford developing vaccines against a range of infectious diseases, including COVID and malaria. The translational focus at Oxford enabled her to follow these approaches from preclinical studies through to human clinical trials, working with a global network of academic and industry partners. Dr Spencer hopes to use this experience to support researchers translate vaccine related discoveries to the clinic and enhance the development of vaccines in Australia.

Dr Spencer is passionate about supporting the development of the next generation of scientists. In addition to teaching and supervising research student, she enjoys opportunities to travel to partner sites or host researchers. Through her roles on scientific committees and editorial boards, she promotes inclusivity, diversity and equity in science.