Dr Stuart Hamilton is Postdoctoral Research Scientist at the Virology Research Laboratory, SEALS Microbiology, Prince of Wales Hospital and 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.
He has now commenced postdoctoral work at the VRL where 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
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
Rawlinson WD, Hamilton ST, van Zuylen W. 2016. Update on Treatment of CMV Infection in Pregnancy and of the Newborn with Congenital CMV. 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. doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2016.08.005.
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. J Gen Virol. 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. J Gen Virol. 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. J Gen Virol. 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. Rev Med Virol. 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. Mol Cell 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. J Gen Virol. 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.
