Infectious diseases

Infectious diseases span a wide range of possible pathogens, from viruses to bacteria to parasites and fungi – all of which can do us harm.

They all require proteins at some point in their life cycle to ensure survival (and thus continued disease), and we research how specific known proteins important in these processes can be disrupted. For example, in viruses, common target proteins for disruption are the proteases, which help cut viral proteins into correct functional sizes, and polymerases, which replicate and convert genetic material for new copies of the pathogen. In each of the diseases listed below, we’re attempting to understand these proteins and find strategies to disrupt them.