Co-heads
Dr Heidi Drummer, BSc(Hons), PhD
Dr Andy Poumbourios, BSc(Hons), PhD
Post Doctoral fellows
Dr Melissa Hill, BSc(Hons), PhD
Dr Diah Elhassan, BSc(Hons), PhD
Research Assistants
Ms Anne Maerz, BAppSci(Hons)
Ms Irene Boo, BSc(Hons)
Ms Stephanie wood, BSc(Hons)
Ms Johanna Dean, BSc(Hons)
Mr Kevin te Wierek, BSc (Hons)
Students
Ms Kathleen McCaffrey, BSc, BA
Ms Anna Bellamy-McIntyre BSc(Hons)
Research Overview
Hepatitis C virus infects more than three per cent of the world’s population causing chronic progressive liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer. HIV-1 infects more than 40 million people, leading to immunodeficiency and death in the absence of expensive antiviral therapy. Both HCV and HIV-1 encode viral surface glycoproteins that attach the viruses to liver or immune cells, respectively, and are targets for the development of antiviral immunity. Understanding how these viruses enter cells will lead to the identification of new targets for the development of antiviral agents targeting this critical first step of infection.
Research Objectives
• To understand the role of the HCV glycoproteins E1 and E2 in viral entry
• To understand the role of HIV-1 glycoproteins, gp120-gp41 in viral entry
• Identify critical domains involved in receptor binding and viral fusion
• To determine the three dimensional structures of E2 and gp41
• To understand the role of antibody and virus evolution in HCV infected people
• To use basic research findings to develop new vaccine candidates
• Identification of new targets for development of antiviral agents
Research Highlights
• Identification of a CD81 binding site in the E2 glycoprotein
• Characterisation of the role of the E1 glycoprotein in viral entry
• Characterisation of a minimal E2 core domain for use in structure determination and vaccine development
• Identification of new functional determinants in gp41
• Identification of a novel HIV-1 glycoprotein vaccine candidate
• Identification of functional and structural linkages between gp120 and gp41