Ervin Fodor is “absolutely delighted” by the decision. “We hope that this work will provide answers to long-standing questions of how the polymerase impacts virulence, host range, and innate immune responses to viral infection” explained Fodor.
Head of the department, Matthew Freeman expressed his pleasure on this matter stating that the MRC has recognised the world-class quality and significance of Ervin’s work. “His research on tackling flu virus epitomises the Dunn School’s focus on the fundamental biology that underlies human disease”, said Freeman.
The proposed research builds upon a number of recent successes of the group. They have solved structures to explain how the viral polymerase hijacks the host RNA Polymerase II to produce its own viral messenger RNA to make proteins. They have also uncovered how the virus assembles its eight RNA gene segments into a virus particle.
Ervin believes that his lab’s success has been built on team effort and a strikingly interdisciplinary approach. They have collaborated with Jonathan Grimes from the Division of Structural Biology (Strubi) and Nicole Robb and Achillefs Kapanidis from the Department of Physics.
For more information visit the Ervin Fodor research group: https://www.path.ox.ac.uk/content/ervin-fodor
Sonia Muliyil (@Muliyilsonia)