Dr Maria Sole Lancerin
Maria Sole is a Research Associate in Professor Ray Owens’s group, where she works on the Disease X project. Her research focuses on translating the group’s structural and molecular findings into functional validation on viruses and viral models.
She earned her PhD in Infection Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, completing a highly interdisciplinary project that integrated classical virology, analytical chemistry, and cyanobacterial biology. Maria Sole previously obtained her Master’s degree in Medical Biotechnologies and her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology from the University of Padova.
When not at the bench, Maria Sole enjoys narrative fiction, hikes, role-playing games, and tending to an ever-expanding collection of tropical plants.
Disease X
The World Health Organisation lists Disease X (the name for a currently unknown pathogen that could cause a future epidemic) as a very serious threat to human health. To prepare for Disease X, we are building a pipeline to rapidly identify, and test nanobodies, for detecting and potentially treating future viral diseases
Defining how coronaviruses enter and traffic in cells
Initial interactions between viruses and cells determine the course of infection. We are applying advanced imaging and biochemical methods to map the early events during infection by the model coronavirus OC43. Our work will reveal new strategies to target viral infections, including by potential future pandemic agents.