Cell entry and innate immune recognition of enveloped viruses

Yorgo’s overall goal is to understand at the molecular level how enveloped RNA viruses, including important pathogens such as dengue and Rift Valley fever viruses, assemble and deliver their genomes into the cell. Other related aims of his research are to understand how viral RNA is recognised by the innate immune system, and to map the evolutionary origins of the genes that drive virus entry. By integrating a complementary set of biophysical, biochemical and cell biological approaches, Yorgo’s long-term vision is to obtain complete mechanistic models with atomic-level detail of the processes of virus cell entry and innate immune recognition.