Dr Laurence Luu

Laurence Luu is an NHMRC EL1 Investigator Fellow and a Scientia Lecturer in the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. He leads the Bacterial Colonisation Factor lab which uses multi-omics (transcriptomic, proteomic and functional genomics/metagenomic etc.) and molecular biology techniques to understand how different bacterial pathogens cause disease. His research focuses on two bacteria: Bordetella pertussis, which causes whooping cough - a re-emerging vaccine preventable disease that is most serious in babies, and Chlamydia trachomatis, one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted pathogens and a leading cause of infertility in females.

Laurence completed his PhD in 2018 where he investigated the evolution of Bordetella pertussis to vaccines. During his PhD, he discovered new adaptations that were associated with increased fitness in the current Australian epidemic B. pertussis population. This discovery garnered widespread media attention and led to a national call to improve vaccines for whooping cough. Laurence continued his research at UNSW as a postdoctoral researcher in the Host-Microbiome and Cancer Immunogenetic labs. His research investigated how to improve faecal microbiota transplantation in inflammatory bowel diseases and revealed important factors associated with 'good' faecal donors. Laurence was awarded a UTS Chancellor's Research Fellow in 2022 and moved to the University of Technology Sydney to investigate how chlamydia infection leads to infertility. In 2025, he was awarded an NHMRC EL1 Investigator Fellowship and moved back to UNSW to continue his research to develop bacterial vaccines that are less susceptible to escape by targeting essential colonisation factors.

Laurence has published in several prestigious journals including Nature Communications, Gut, The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Emerging Infectious Diseases. He has spoken at conferences, given lectures and established a number of international collaborations. He has also won multiple grants and awards in recognition of his research including the 2023 Jim Pittard Award from the Australian Society for Microbiology and a high commended Griffith University Discovery Award from Research Australia.

Incredibly passionate about his research, Laurence's ultimate aim is to understand how bacteria cause disease in order to develop new treatments and reduce the suffering associated with infectious diseases.