Dr Etienne Masle-Farquhar

Dr Etienne Masle-Farquhar is a Laboratory Head & Faculty Member at the Garvan Institute, a Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney and Principal Investigator of the Exceptional Responders Program.

The Masle-Farquhar Laboratory collaborates closely with an extensive network of clinicians in >10 hospitals, across 6 states and territories in Australia, and internationally. The laboratory runs a rapidly expanding, unique Biobank of synovial fluid, synovial tissue, bone marrow, artery and other tissue samples, which are collected during hospital procedures as part of standard-of-care, but are typically then incinerated or discarded. Instead, the team collects and biobanks these tissues, as precious resources for investigative, mechanistic research of human diseases. Within hours of collection, they are transported to the lab for research. Over 350 Australians have donated samples, to date (ongoing). Finally, consumer research and the immunogenomic studies of patient tissues inform an exciting collaboration with the new Garvan Biologics Platform, to design, produce and pre-clinically assess novel biologic therapies to treat arthritic and other immune diseases.

Etienne first became interested in immunology and genetics at age 16, during his internships with Prof Chris Goodnow (2025 Crafoord Prize winner) at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, and with Prof Alain Fischer at the INSERM Institute in Paris. Etienne was awarded the Alexander McTaggart Award for Honours at ANU in 2015, studying the fundamentals of immune development and responses. In 2021, Etienne completed a PhD at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in the laboratory of Prof. Chris Goodnow. This PhD, on the shared genetic overlaps between autoimmune diseases and immune malignancies, was awarded the UNWS Dean's Award, and elucidated key mechanisms controlling immune tolerance. Including several discoveries relating to the role of cytokines and JAK-STAT signalling in controlling killer CD8 T cells and aberrant B cells, which are contributing to several autoimmune diseases. Etienne then completed a postdoc with A/Prof Owen Siggs, studying Acquired Errors of Immunity, immune syndromes caused by monogenic acquired mutations. And a second postdoc with Prof Joseph Powell, a world-leader in single-cell genetics and eQTL. Etienne retained an ongoing interest in monogenic immune diseases caused by germline or acquired variants in STAT3, EGR2, KMT2D, CARD11, UBA1. Etienne’s work on STAT3 mutations in CD8 T cells (published in Immunity, in 2022) led to a major ongoing interest in CD8 T cell clones in rheumatoid arthritis.

As a Laboratory Head and lead of Exceptional Responders in Autoimmune & Inflammatory Diseases (ERAD), Etienne’s work in supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), NSW Office for Health and Medical Research (OHMR), St Vincent’s Clinic Research Foundation, Garvan Institute, and others. His work has been recognised by national and international awards, including the Australia & New Zealand Society of Immunology (ASI) Breakthrough Award, and the International Cytokines and Interferons Society (ICIS) Investigator Award.

Etienne’s laboratory is leading major studies into seven diseases: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and spondyloarthritis, osteoarthritis, gout), primary cold agglutinin disease (pCAD), giant cell arteritis (CGA) and T cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia (T-LGLL).

Beyond science, Etienne spends time every week bouldering, salsa dancing, life drawing, and devouring gelato.