Prof Ian Hermans is a Programme Leader at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington, New Zealand. A major focus of his work has been to investigate the role of unconventional T cells in priming of adaptive immune responses. After initiating this work with Prof Enzo Cerundolo at the University of Oxford, he returned to New Zealand on a Sir Charles Hercus Research Fellowship, where his team continue to develop approaches to harness unconventional T cells in vaccination and therapy. Recent work conducted in collaboration with Prof Gavin Painter at the Ferrier Research Institute and Prof William Heath at the Peter Doherty Institute has highlighted an important role for unconventional T cells in generating long-term T cell memory in the liver, which has been incorporated into the design of novel prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines for liver diseases.