معرفی
Áine McKnight serves as Professor of Viral Pathology at the Centre for Genomics and Child Health within the Blizard Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London. Her research bridges virology and immunology with a focus on viral restriction mechanisms and pandemic response.
Her academic foundation includes an MSc in Immunology from King's College London (1990) and a PhD from the University of London (1996) supervised by Paul Clapham and Robin Weiss.
Professor McKnight's research centers on the interface between viruses and host immunity, particularly intrinsic immune mechanisms like lentiviral restriction-2 (Lv2) and RNA-associated Anti-viral Factor (REAF) that inhibit HIV replication. Since 2019, her work has expanded to SARS-CoV-2, where she established London's largest healthcare worker cohort (731 participants) to track longitudinal immune responses across variants and vaccination regimens. Her group investigates viral evolution in immunocompromised hosts, correlates of protection, and biomarkers for acute/long-term infection outcomes.
Recent publications reveal critical trends: the role of pre-existing T-cell immunity in early viral control, differential vaccine responses in immunosuppressed populations, and viral variant emergence in chronic infections. Her HIV work demonstrates clade-independent neutralization, challenging vaccine development assumptions.
Key scientific recognition includes:
- Wellcome Trust Fellowship (2000)
- MRC Senior Non-clinical Fellowship
She supervises PhD candidate Maximillian Biguet on PAF1 complex roles in HIV restriction and leads a multidisciplinary team comprising Dr. Joseph Gibbons and Dr. Corinna Pade. Her pandemic research received rapid funding from the Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital Trust, Rosetrees Trust, and John Black Charitable Foundation, enabling real-time variant analysis from Wuhan to Omicron.
The McKnight lab operates within Queen Mary's Blizard Institute, collaborating with Bart's NHS, UCL, and Imperial College London on viral pathogenesis, immune monitoring, and therapeutic development.
