Dr Vivian is a Victorian Cancer Agency Mid-career Fellow based at St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research. His career has focused on protein biology, with X-ray crystallography and protein chemistry playing key roles in his studies. Currently his research interests are in immune system regulation. He has worked extensively on Killer-cell Immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) that are integral to Natural Killer cell and T-cell functions. His academic program is centred on KIR and ILT receptors, Type-I interferons and Human Leukocyte Antigen molecules. He aims to uncover the mechanisms by which these molecules lead to disease susceptibility and disease progression and by corollary the mechanisms by which they can be harnessed to cure disease.