Funding research Fellowships in viral hepatitis

Dr Angela Hind, the Medical Research Foundation’s Chief Executive, said: “The Foundation is committed to supporting the careers of researchers whose research has the potential to positively impact on patient diagnosis and treatment. We hope our Fellows will not only progress understanding of viral hepatitis but our funding will help them take the next steps in their research careers”

Our research Fellows investigating the disease mechanisms underlying viral hepatitis are:

• Dr Leo Swadling at University College London, who will look at ways to select for specialised immune cells (known as T-cells) from people who have cleared a hepatitis infection and use the receptors from these T-cells to develop ways to control and cure hepatitis B infection.
• Dr Elisabetta Groppelli at University of Leeds, who will investigate the ways that hepatitis A virus infects cells in the body as way to developing anti-viral strategies that will block the infection. This study will use a combination of molecular and state-of-the-art structural biology approaches to understand how RNA viruses deliver their genes to cells.
• Dr Nikesh Patel also at University of Leeds, who will be visualising the replication of hepatitis B virus using a combination of several techniques to understand that is happening at the molecular level. Understanding the key steps involved in the virus’s replication will help identify new drug targets.