Dr Natalee Newton is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland. She completed a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and a PhD in Virology at The University of Queensland in 2021, the same year she was awarded an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Level 1 Fellowship.

Dr Newton is a molecular and structural virologist with a passion for uncovering the architecture of flaviviruses and translating these discoveries into the design and development of vaccines and therapeutics. Her research encompasses both pathogenic and non-pathogenic tick- and mosquito-borne flaviviruses, including dengue virus, West Nile virus, and tick-borne encephalitis virus.

A central component of her research program is the co-development of a chimeric flavivirus platform that enables safe structural studies of pathogenic flaviviruses via cryo-electron microscopy under lower containment conditions. Leveraging this platform, she led an MRFF Early- to Mid-Career Researcher grant focused on developing broad-spectrum viral vaccines.