Dr Stuart Hamilton is an NHMRC Early Career Research Fellow and Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Virology Research Laboratory, SEALS Microbiology, Prince of Wales Hospital and School of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of New South Wales. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree at UNSW with a double major in Molecular Biology/Medical Microbiology and Immunology. He received 1st class honours for his research and was the recipient of the inaugural Stillbirth Foundation Australia PhD Scholarship and Australian Postgraduate Award.His PhD project investigated human cytomegalovirus (CMV) immunomodulation within the placenta during pregnancy and the implications for adverse pregnancy outcomes, in addition to the development of novel antiviral siRNA molecules as a potential therapeutic. During his PhD he accumulated extensive national and international experience and expertise in the fields of virology, immunology, placentology, molecular biology and diagnostics at various leading institutions including the Institute for Clinical and Molecular Biology, University of Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany.
His research interests include determining the mechanisms by which CMV placental infection can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes and investigating antiviral compounds for use during pregnancy. Dr Hamilton also has extensive experience as an on-call scientist for the NSW Organ and Tissue Service (DonateLife) where he urgently screens organ and tissue donors for any complicating or life threatening viral infections immediately prior to transplantation.
Research Interests
– Examining the adverse effects CMV infection has on placental development/function and pregnancy outcomes
– Understanding transmission modes of intrauterine CMV infection
– Developing novel ex vivo placental explant histoculture systems for pathogenesis and therapeutic studies
– Investigating CMV antiviral safety and efficacy profiles in human placental models
Project: Experimental and novel CMV antiviral compounds for therapeutic use during pregnancy
Despite the enormous clinical and social importance of congenital CMV, there are currently no licensed therapeutics available for CMV infection during pregnancy. In collaboration with international partners, this project is investigating the safety and efficacy profiles of experimental and novel CMV antiviral compounds in ex vivo human placental models. These investigations are not possible in vivo or in animal models due to potential drug toxicities and the high host specificity of both CMV and placental physiology. Therefore, this project utilises ex vivo placental tissue obtained from women at the Royal Hospital for Women who kindly donate their placenta for this research. This allows vigorous investigations of the effects CMV infection has on human placental development and function and provides a unique model system to investigate a wide range of antiviral therapies for the prevention of intrauterine CMV infection and fetal injury.
Awards
2019 Best New Investigator Paper – Placenta journal and International Federation of Placenta Associations
2018 Thrasher Research Fund Early Career Award
2017 NHMRC Peter Doherty Biomedical Early Career Fellowship
2015 Australasian Virology Society Early Career Researcher Session Chair Award
2012 Postgraduate Research Student Support Award UNSW
2010 The Inaugural Stillbirth Foundation Australia PhD Scholarship
2010 Australian Postgraduate Award
2009 Australian Society of Microbiology Honours Student Prize
2009 Australian Virology Group Student Presentation Award
2009 Coast Association Tow Awards Poster Prize
Publications
– Bartlett AW, Hamilton ST, Shand AW, Rawlinson WD (2020). Fetal therapies for cytomegalovirus: what to tell prospective parents. Prenatal Diagnosis. doi: 10.1002/pd.5692
– Naing Z*, Hamilton ST*, van Zuylen WJ, Scott G, Rawlinson WD (2020). Differential expression of PDGF receptor-alpha in human placental trophoblasts leads to different entry pathways by human cytomegalovirus strains. Nature Scientific Reports. 10(1):1082 (*Joint First Authors)
– Häge S, Horsch D, Stilp AC, Kicuntod J, Müller R, Hamilton ST, Egilmezer E, Rawlinson WD, Stamminger T, Sonntag E, Marschall M (2020). A Quantitative Nuclear Egress Assay to Investigate the Nucleocytoplasmic Capsid Release of Human Cytomegalovirus. Journal of Virological Methods. 283:113909
– Singh K, Palasanthiran P,Hamilton ST, Rawlinson WD (2020). Cotton Wool Balls Are an Effective Urine Collection Tool for CMV PCR for Diagnosing Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection. Pathology. 52(4): 504506
– Helbig KJ, Bull RA, Ambrose R, Beard MR, Blanchard H, Böcking T, Chua B, Colmant AMG, Crosse KM, Purcell DFJ, Fraser J, Hayward JA,Hamilton ST, Husain M, MacDiarmid R, Mackenzie JM, Moseley GW, Nguyen THO, Quiñones-Mateu ME, Robinson K, Rodrigo C, Rodriguez-Andres J, Rudd PA, Werno A, White P, Young P, Speck P, Hibma M, Drummer HE, Tachedjian G (2020). Tenth Scientific Biennial Meeting of the Australasian Virology Society-AVS10 2019. Viruses. 12(6): E621
– Wong DD, van Zuylen WJ, Hamilton ST, Steingruber M, Sonntag E, Marschal M, Rawlinson WD (2019). Patient-derived cytomegaloviruses with different ganciclovir sensitivities from UL97 mutation retain their replication efficiency and some kinase activity in vitro. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 63(9): e02425-18
– Hamilton ST, Hutterer C, Egilmezer E, Steingruber M, Milbradt J, Marschall M, Rawlinson WD (2018). Human cytomegalovirus utilises cellular dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinases during placental replication. Placenta. 72-73:10-19
– Hahn F, Hutterer C, Henry C, Hamilton ST, Strojan H, Kraut A, Schulte U, Schutz M, Kohrt S, Wangen C, Pfizer J, Coute Y, Rawlinson WD, Strobl S, Marschall M. (2018). Novel cytomegalovirus-inhibitory compounds of the class pyrrolopyridines show a complex pattern of target binding that suggests an unusual mechanism of antiviral activity. Antiviral Research. 159: 84-94
– Rawlinson WD, Boppana SB, Fowler KB, Kimberlin DW, Lazzarotto T, Alain S, Daly K, Doure S, Gibson L, Giles ML, Greenlee J, Hamilton ST, Harrison GJ, Hui L, Jones CA, Palasanthiran P, Schleiss MR, Shand AW, van Zuylen WJ. (2017). Congenital cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy and the neonate: Consensus recommendations for prevention diagnosis and therapy. Lancet Infectious Diseases. 17(6):e177-e188
– Hutterer C, Milradt J, Hamilton ST, Zaja M, Leban J, Henry C, Vitt D, Steingruber M, Sonntag E, Zeittrager I, Bahsi H, Stamminger T, Rawlinson WD, Strobl S, Marschall M. (2017). Inhibitors of dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinases (DYRK) exert a strong anti-herpesviral activity. Antiviral Research. 9(143):113-121
– Van Zuylen WJ, Zheng J, Hamilton ST, Egilmezer E, Craig M, Gralton J, Rawlinson WD (2017). Prevalence of cytomegalovirus carriage among childcare staff. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. 53(7):724
– Ornelas AMM, Pezzuto P, Silveira PP, Melo FO, Ferreira TA, Oliveira-Szejnfeld PS, Leal JI, Amorim MM, Hamilton ST, Rawlinson WD, Cardoso CC, Nixon, DF, Tanuri A, Melo AS, Aguiar RS. (2017). Immune activation in amniotic fluid from zika virus associated microcephaly. Annals of Neurology. 81(1):152-156
– Rawlinson WD, Hamilton ST, van Zuylan WJ. (2016). Update on treatment of cytomegalovirus infection in pregnancy and of the newborn with congenital cytomegalovirus. Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 29(6):615-24
– Hutterer C, Hamilton ST, Steingruber M, Zeittrager I, Bahsi H, Thuma N, Orfi Z, Orfi L, Socher E, Sticht H, Rawlinson WD, Chou S, Haupt VJ, Marschall M. (2016). The Chemical Class of Quinazoline Compounds Provides a Core Structure for the Design of Anticytomegaloviral Kinase Inhibitors. Antiviral Research. 134:130-43.
– Sonntag E, Hamilton ST, Bahsi H, Wagner S, Jonjic S, Rawlinson WD, Marschall M, Milbradt J. (2016). Cytomegalovirus pUL50 is the Multi-Interacting Determinant of the Core Nuclear Egress Complex (NEC) that Recruits Cellular Accessory NEC Components. Journal of General Virology. 97: 1676-1685.
– Graf L, Feichtinger S, Naing Z, Hutterer C, Milbradt J, Webel R, Wagner S, Scott G, Hamilton ST, Rawlinson WD, Stamminger T, Thomas M, Marschall M. (2016). New Insights into the Phosphorylation-Regulated Intranuclear Localization of Human Cytomegalovirus pUL69 Mediated by Cylin-Dependent Kinsaes (CDKs) and Viral CDK Ortholog pUL97. Journal of General Virology. 97(1):144-51.
– Naing Z, Scott GM, Hamilton ST, van Zuylen W, Shand A, Basha J, Hall B, Craig ME, Rawlinson WD. (2016). Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection in Pregnancy: A Review of Prevalence, Clinical Features, Diagnosis and Prevention. ANZJOG. 56(1):9-18.
– Rogers N. (2015). A Dormant Danger: New Therapies Target a Ubiquitous Pathogen known as Cytomegalovirus. Nature Medicine 21:1104-1105.
– Hamilton ST, Hutterer C, Marschall M. (2015). Therapeutics to Prevent Congenital CMV during Pregnancy – What is Available Now and in the Future? Microbiology Australia, vol. 36, no. 4.
– Naing Z, Webel R, Hamilton ST, Schmeiser C, Scott GM, Marschall M, Rawlinson WD. (2015). Stimulatory Effects of Human Cytomegalovirus Tegument Protein pp71 Lead to Increased Expression of CCL2 (MCP-1) During Infection. Journal of General Virology. 96(7):1855-1862.
– Hamilton ST, van Zuylen W, Shand A, Scott GM, Naing Z, Hall B, Craig ME, Rawlinson WD. (2014). Prevention of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Complications by Maternal and Neonatal Treatments: a Systematic Review. Reviews in Medical Virology. 24(6):420-33.
– Milbradt J, Kraut A, Hutterer C, Sonntag E, Schmeiser C, Ferro M, Wagner S, Lenac T, Claus C, Pinkert S, Hamilton ST, Rawlinson WD, Sticht H, Coute´ Y, and Marschall M. (2014). Proteomic Analysis of the Multimeric Nuclear Egress Complex of Human Cytomegalovirus. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics. 13(8):2132-46.
– Hamilton ST, Milbradt J, Marschall M, Rawlinson WD. (2014). Human Cytomegalovirus Replication is Strictly Inhibited by siRNAs Targeting UL54, UL97 or UL122/123 Gene Transcripts. PLoS ONE 9(6): e97231.
– van Zuylen W, Hamilton ST, Naing Z, Hall B, Shand A, Rawlinson WD. (2014). Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection: Clinical Presentation, Epidemiology, Diagnosis and Prevention. Obstetric Medicine. 7(4):140-46.
– Graf L, Webel R, Wagner S, Hamilton ST, Rawlinson WD, Sticht H, Marschall M. (2013). The Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Ortholog pUL97 of Human Cytomegalovirus Interacts with Cyclins. Viruses. 5(12):3213-3230.
– Hamilton ST, Scott G, Naing Z, Rawlinson WD. (2013). Human Cytomegalovirus Directly Modulates Expression of Chemokine CCL2 (MCP-1) During Viral Replication. Journal of General Virology. 94(11):2495-503.
– Hamilton ST, Scott G, Naing Z, Iwasenko J, Hall B, Graf N, Arbuckle S, Craig M, Rawlinson WD. (2012). Human Cytomegalovirus Induces Cytokine Changes in the Placenta with Implications for Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. PLoS One. 7(12): e52899.
