Chris Boutell

Dr. Chris Boutell is a Programme Leader in Virology at the University of Glasgow's Centre for Virus Research, Garscube Campus. His research focuses on the molecular interplay between viruses and host cellular modification pathways, particularly ubiquitin and SUMO systems, in regulating antiviral immunity.

His primary research interests lie in virus-host interactions with emphasis on:

• Ubiquitin and ubiquitin-like modifications in cellular antiviral pathways
• Mechanisms of viral immune evasion through SUMO and ubiquitin pathways
• Molecular regulation of intrinsic immunity during herpesvirus, influenza, and hepatitis C infections
• Role of PML nuclear bodies in viral restriction and latency

His laboratory investigates these processes using clinically relevant viruses including HSV-1, HCV, and influenza virus.

Recent publication trends reveal a strong focus on:

• Viral manipulation of host SUMOylation pathways (30% of recent work)
• Epigenetic regulation of viral genomes (25%)
• Novel antiviral restriction factors (20%)
• Machine learning applications in viral pathogenesis (15%)

His work bridges molecular virology, immunology, and computational biology.

Dr. Boutell has secured significant research funding including:

• Medical Research Council Quinquennial Core Funds (2016-2021)
• UKRI grant for dissecting innate immune determinants in COVID-19 (2020-2022)
• BBSRC Monkeypox Rapid Response grant (2022-2023)

He leads the Boutell Group at the Centre for Virus Research, which maintains active collaborations across virology, immunology, and computational biology disciplines. The group utilizes advanced techniques including proteomics, single-genome analysis, and machine learning frameworks to investigate viral pathogenesis mechanisms.