Clodagh O'Shea

Clodagh O'Shea is a Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, holding the Wicklow Chair position and serving as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar. She leads the Laboratory for Molecular and Cell Biology, where she conducts groundbreaking research at the intersection of virology, cancer biology, and genome architecture.

Dr. O'Shea's educational background includes a BS in Biochemistry and Microbiology from University College Cork, Ireland; a PhD from Imperial College London/Imperial Cancer Research Fund, UK; and postdoctoral training at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco.

Her research focuses on designing synthetic viruses that selectively target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed, as well as unraveling the structural code that determines DNA accessibility in the cell nucleus. She has developed innovative technologies like ChromEM to visualize the 3D structure of chromatin in living cells, revealing how DNA is packaged in the nucleus and how this organization affects gene activity. Her work has significant implications for understanding and treating cancer, premature aging, and viral infections.

Analysis of her publication record shows a consistent focus on viral-host interactions, chromatin structure, and cancer biology, with particular emphasis on how viruses can be engineered to target tumor cells and how DNA packaging influences cellular responses to damage and disease.

• Allen Distinguished Investigator Award (2018)
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Scholar (2016)
• WM Keck Medical Research Program Award (2014)
• Anna Fuller Prize for Cancer Research (2010-2012)
• Sontag Distinguished Scientist Award (2009)
• Arnold and Mabel Beckman Young Investigator Award (2008)

Dr. O'Shea's research has been supported by major grants including a $3 million NIH grant as part of the 4D Nucleome Program and a $1.5 million Allen Distinguished Investigator award. She collaborates extensively with researchers at UC San Diego, particularly with Mark Ellisman's laboratory, to develop advanced imaging techniques for studying nuclear architecture. Her laboratory is pioneering approaches to design synthetic viral therapies that can adapt to tumor heterogeneity and target specific cancer mutations.

Her laboratory has developed techniques to visualize how genomic material is structured in time and space, with the potential to reveal the structural code that determines whether a gene is in an 'on' or 'off' state in health and disease. This work could lead to new epigenetic therapies that help cancer cells 'remember' how to be normal again.