Inaugural Professorial Lecture – Professor Merilyn Hibma

Human papillomavirus and cervical cancer: A translational research success story
About Professor Merilyn Hibma's research
Merilyn is a viral immunologist whose research interest is human papillomavirus (HPV) and cancer. She completed her PhD studies in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Otago, and her post-doctoral work was carried out at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund laboratories at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Much of Merilyn’s research has explored immune regulation by human papillomavirus, with a particular focus on viral regulation of antigen presenting cells in the skin. She has led the development of a collaboration to support implementation research for HPV screening in the Pacific and is part of a team that applies Kaupapa Māori methodology to explore the use of HPV DNA testing to maximise uptake in under-screened Māori. Her research continues to contribute to advances in basic biology of HPV and its clinical application to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer.