Current Team
Prof Matthew Reeves
Principal Investigator
Professor of Viral Pathogenesis
Matthew trained with Profs. John Sinclair and Patrick Sissons at the University of Cambridge before leaving for the States on a Presidential Fellowship to work with Prof. Teresa Compton at Novartis in Cambridge, MA. He returned to the UK and Cambridge with the support of a prestigious MRC Career Development Fellowship and subsequently transferred that to UCL in 2013 where he established his laboratory in the CMV research group based in Institute of Immunity & Transplantation. Although his consistent focus has been the molecular basis of HCMV latency and reactivation he remains interested how the virus manipulates the host cell in all phases of infection and why our immune system controls but does not sterilise HCMV infections.
Dr Anastasia Lankina
Post Doctoral Fellow
Ana joined the lab as a joint BBSRC PhD student with Judy Breuer and will stay on as a Post Doctoral researcher where she will combine in silico approaches with wet lab experimentation to understand the importance of gB domains for infection and immune control. Ana is currently focused on understanding the importance of AD6 in gB - both from an immunological and functional point of view.
Ana hails from Russia and thus feels none of us really know what cold is! We have yet to establish whether Ana likes vodka or not. This seems an oversight on our part...
Dr Ines Hofer
Post Doctoral Fellow
Ines joined the lab as BBSRC PhD student working on a collaborative project with Radu Zabet at QMUL. Ines hails from Austria and joins the lab with a background in forensic science.
For her Post Doc, Ines will be working on a project that combines bioinformatics, systems biology approaches to the study of chromatin conformation and virology to understand the fundamental principles governing haematopoietic cell fate and how a virus may help understand this.
Aisha re-joins the lab after her MSc project to continue her work on HCMV reactivation and, specifically, to investigate the molecular mechanisms that control reactivation in dendritic cells. Aisha's project is seeking to understand how src family kinase signalling translates into the recruitment of histone acetyltransferase activity to MIEP.
Aisha is sponsored by a Qatar Embassy Scholarship and it appears will be bringing dates (the food not escorts!) to the lab on a regular basis. Also it has become clear recently that you have to be careful playing Uno against Aisha.
Aisha Fakhroo
PhD student - Qatar Embassy Scholarship
Alexander Hargreaves
PhD student - MRC DTP
Al is a PhD student on the MRC UCL-Birkbeck Doctoral Training Programme, captivated by the molecular chess game between viruses and the immune system. He is interested in AD-6, a newly identified antigenic domain of glycoprotein B. Al is interested in unpicking the interactions and functions of AD-6 in the viral entry process, with the aim to shape smarter, more effective antibody responses.
His work sits at the intersection of virology and immunology, driven by a belief that understanding how viruses get in is key to keeping them out. Beyond the lab, Al is a devoted armchair rugby fan and a lover of history — always ready to debate Six Nations tactics or dive into the past through a good podcast
Dr Yashgin Hassanzadeh
Post Doctoral Fellow
Yashgin completed her PhD studying the nature of immune responses directed against HCMV in transplantation including a stint with us a visiting researcher. Yashgin has now returned to work on a project looking to identify important immune responses that are crucial for the control of BK virus infection in our renal transplant patients.
Alice Ringlstetter
Research Technician
Alice's recruitment to the lab brings an international background encompassing continental Europe and America. Alice joins as a research technician who will support ongoing research into the molecular details of HCMV latency and reactivation and also ongoing work into the HCMV vaccine.
Alice's arrival means that the Boss is possibly not the tallest in the lab!
Reine Younes
PhD Student
Reine was an MSc student in the lab who has stayed with us to continue her research in HCMV latency and reactivation with an interest in host cell functions that serve as cellular chaperones of. HCMV latency.
Her specific interests concern the role of heat shock proteins for the epigenetic regulation of HCMV reactivation.
Reine is also the source of many fine foods from home.
Mary Barker
PhD Student
Mary originally joined the lab as Undergraduate Student project student working on HCMV infection and the role of cellular receptors. Mary then stayed on as research assistant contributing to our ongoing vaccine and latency research before taking up a KRUK funded Michael Nicholson PhD studentship to investigate novel technologies for generating anti-viral HCMV immune responses by vaccination.
Harry Persaud
PhD student (Co-supervisor)
Harry comes to UCL with an MSc from Imperial to work on tissue resident immunity in the context of renal organ transplantation. Harry is supported by KRUK funded Michael Nicholson Studentship and is particularly interested in the role of tissue resident NK cells.
Harry can be seen prowling the corridors of the IIT at all hours waiting for samples from our transplant teams who definitely do not operate 9-5.
Prashanth Chowdary
PhD student (Co-supervisor)
Prashanth has dual role as a PhD student and a Senior Clinical Fellow in Renal Transplantation at University College London and the Royal Free Hospital. His PhD research investigates the role of kidney-resident T cells in controlling human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. Prashanth combines a strong surgical background with translational immunology investigating how kidney-resident CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells orchestrate antiviral responses in transplant recipients, utilising perfusate-based immune profiling and advanced flow cytometry.
Dr Yashgin Hassanzadeh
Post Doctoral Fellow
Yashgin recently completed her PhD studying immune determinants important for predicting risk of HCMV disease in transplant patients.
After first joining us a visiting researcher during her PhD, Yashgin now joins to work on a Post Doctoral project looking to identify important antibody responses important for the control of BK virus infection in renal transplant patients.
Dr Stephanie Chong
Clinical PhD student
Stephanie is a Specialist Registrar in Nephrology who is interested in viral factors that promote Kidney disease and graft rejection in transplant patients.
Stephanie was also a Clinical Lecturer during which time she generated the pilot data for her successful PhD Studentship application. Stephanie will be supported by the Royal Free Charity to investigate the role of BK polyoma virus in kidney disease. This is an exciting collaboration between ourselves and the Division of Renal Medicine and seeks to shed new light on an increasingly important medical problem.