To propagate, viruses depend on access to essential host cell components and machineries. At the same time, they have evolved sophisticated strategies to counteract or evade cell-intrinsic defence mechanisms that would otherwise hinder their ability to replicate and persist. Over the course of her scientific journey, Christine has been exploring the complex and fascinating interactions between pathogenic viruses and the human host cell. She will highlight viral strategies of immune evasion and exploitation of host cell factors, as well as the cellular mechanisms that sense and restrict viral infection. These insights generated by fundamental research form the foundation of our understanding of virus-host cell interplay and serve as the starting point for the development of therapeutic and curative antiviral interventions in affected populations, particularly in the context of emerging viral infections and HIV-1/AIDS which represent some of the most pressing and urgent global health challenges we face today.
About the Speaker: Professor Christine Goffinet, Chair in Virology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.
Christine has been Chair in Virology at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine since September 2023. Since September 2024, she also serves as the Deputy Head of the Department of Tropical Disease Biology. Born in Brest, France, she relocated at age of eleven to Hamburg, Germany, where she studied Biology at Hamburg University. She earned her doctorate from Heidelberg University in 2007 on the characterization of a small animal model for HIV infection. She established her research group at Ulm University, followed by a Junior Professorship at Hannover Medical School/TWINCORE. 2019, she became Associate Professor at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. Her team researches HIV-1, arthritogenic alphaviruses like chikungunya and Mayaro viruses, SARS-CoV-2 and MPXV, focussing on cellular cofactors and restriction factors, tropism and viral antagonism of innate defences to develop antivirals and improve HIV-1 shock-and-kill curative approaches.
Professor Goffinet's lecture will last approximately 45minutes followed by a 15minutes Q&A. Guests will be welcomed to attend a networking reception after the lecture.
Due to the capacity of the venue, space within the main room is limited and guests will be seated on a first come first served basis. The lecture will also be live streamed at the venue if we exceed capacity.
The event will be live streamed and recorded.
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