معرفی
Dr. Matthew Child is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London's Faculty of Natural Sciences. His lab focuses on understanding how amino acids contribute to protein function in live cells, particularly in the context of rare diseases and infections by pathogens. Key affiliations include the Imperial College Network of Excellence in Malaria, Institute of Chemical Biology, and the CDT in Chemical Biology program. He leads the Child Lab, which combines cutting-edge techniques to address novel scientific questions in parasite biology and chemical biology.
Matthew holds a PhD in molecular parasitology from the National Institute for Medical Research (London, UK) and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University under Prof. Matt Bogyo. In 2016, he established his independent lab at Imperial College with support from a Wellcome Trust and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship. His research spans protein function analysis, drug discovery targeting pathogens like Toxoplasma and Plasmodium, and developing AAV-based gene therapy vectors for neurological applications.
Research interests include: functional proteomics, redox signaling in parasites, antivirulence agents for Clostridium difficile, and engineering AAV capsids to enhance brain targeting. The lab employs CRISPR-based recombineering, activity-based proteomics, and in vivo barcoding to study pathogen biology and therapeutic targets. Collaborations include the Institute of Chemical Biology and the Imperial College Chemical Biology CDT.
Notable achievements include the discovery of ALPL as a BBB-penetrant AAV receptor, development of TRACER AAV capsids evading pre-existing antibodies, and elucidating malaria parasite immune evasion mechanisms. The lab's work is funded through competitive grants and maintains a strong focus on translating fundamental discoveries into clinical and therapeutic applications.
