Ken Beagley is Professor of Immunology and Associate Director at the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology and has worked in mucosal immunology for over 25 years. Current research interests focus on immunity to Chlamydia sexually transmitted infections to define and differentiate the mechanisms of immune-mediated pathology from the immune mechanisms that protect against infection and to use this information to develop effective chlamydial vaccines. This work involves the use of both mouse and guinea pig models of infection and has now been extended to include development of a chlamydial vaccine for the koala. In all of these studies novel needle-free mucosal vaccination routes (intranasal, sublingual, transcutaneous) are used to target immunity to the female and male reproductive tracts. Other interests include the effects of chlamydial infections on spermatogenesis, ovarian function and the development of reactive arthritis, the development of novel topical microbicide/spermicide dual action therapeutics and development of orally delivered vaccines for genital herpes.