Discovering the function, structure and evolutionary impact of proteins created de novo (ie not by duplication), in particular in viruses and in bacteria

David returned to research in 2010 following the award of his Career Re-entry Fellowship. Before that, he had been working in public engagement for seven years in England and in his home city of Marseilles. David set up a charity offering hands-on workshops, allowing many audiences to discover biology: people with genetic disease, school students and the public. His research focuses on two themes: the 'invention' of new proteins by viruses, and finding distant connections between viral proteins. Regions of viral proteins that are conserved over long evolutionary distances may play important roles, given that viruses evolve so fast. This suggests that such regions could be important drug targets.