Understanding the negative sense RNA intermediate in picornavirus replication

Career overview

Professor Nicola Stonehouse is a virologist with a focus on the fundamental aspects of the viral lifecycle and the development of novel vaccines. She completed her BSc at the University of East Anglia and obtained her PhD in 1992 from the University of Leeds. As a post-doctoral fellow, she developed an interest in high-resolution structural studies of RNA-protein complexes, which led to a long-term collaboration with Lars Liljas’ group in Uppsala, Sweden. This collaboration ultimately resulted in the award of a Career Development Fellowship from the UK Medical Research Council. Over the years, Professor Stonehouse transitioned from working on bacteriophage to picornaviruses and was appointed as Lecturer in 2001, subsequently becoming Chair in Molecular Virology in 2014. She collaborates widely, with current funding supporting vaccine development, studies of the replication of foot-and-mouth disease virus, and understanding the fundamental aspects of viral capsid assembly. Her vaccine projects involve generating a generic vaccine ''scaffold'' and developing stabilised empty viral capsids as vaccine candidates for poliovirus and other enteroviruses. Professor Stonehouse is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce (FRSA), and the UK Higher Education Academy. She teaches at all levels and has taken on various roles to support junior scientists.

Research interests

Professor Stonehouse''s research focuses on viral replication and assembly, as well as vaccine development. She is particularly interested in the fundamental aspects of the viral lifecycle and the development of novel vaccines. Her work includes studies on the replication of foot-and-mouth disease virus and understanding the fundamental aspects of viral capsid assembly. Current projects involve the development of a generic vaccine scaffold and the characterisation of stabilised empty viral capsids as vaccine candidates for poliovirus and other enteroviruses. Additionally, she has a background in high-resolution structural studies of RNA-protein complexes and has collaborated on various projects related to picornaviruses.

Prof D.J. Rowlands's profile is coming soon