Dr Christopher McCormick Applied BSc, DPhil, PGCert
Associate Professor of Virology, Deputy Programme Lead for BM4
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Associate Professor Christopher McCormick is an Associate Professor of Virology at the University of Southampton.
The study of complex biological mechanisms at the molecular level require facile genetic experimental systems – viruses are no exception.
Dr Christopher McCormick is an Associate Professor of Virology within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton. He obtained his BSc at the University of Bath and DPhil at the University of Oxford before undertaking infectious disease postdoctoral work at the University of Leeds. Dr McCormick joined the University of Southampton in May 2005.
Dr McCormick’s current research interests focus on the molecular mechanisms that support positive strand RNA virus replication as well as strategies these same viruses use to evade host immunity. His work at Southampton in collaboration with Prof. Ian Clarke led to the first reverse genetics system for noroviruses and he has pioneered the development of other novel genetic complementation systems to study both viral genome replication and virus particle formation. Viruses that his group have work on include hepatitis C virus, bovine viral diarrhoea virus, mouse norovirus, rhinovirus, yellow fever virus. Recently, Dr McCormick has become academic lead for SARS-CoV-2 level 3 biocontainment studies, working in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Southampton to better understand virus pathology and develop treatments. He has received funding from the MRC, the Royal Society, the Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Research charity and the Rosetrees Trust.
Degree Qualifications
- Applied BSc, Biology, University of Bath (1992)
- DPhil , Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford (1996)
- PGCertEd, University of Southampton (2007)
Appointments held
- Post-doctoral researcher, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford (Jan 1996 – June 2006)
- Post-doctoral researcher, University of Leeds (June 1996-June 2005)
- Lecturer, University of Southampton (June 2005- May 2016)
- Associate Professor, University of Southampton (May 2016-present)
Past lab members
- Michela Marongiu, PhD student (2006-2009)
- Sofia Lourenco, post-doc (2009-2010)
- Morgan Herod, post doc (2011-2013)
- Yao Tay, BMedSci project student (2012)
- Ben Smalley , BMedSci project student (2014)
- Sarah Abbasi Kooshk Mehdi, BMedSci project student (2016)
- Edward Sullivan, PhD student (2013-2017)
- Rafael Gomes, PhD student (2013-2017)
- Zoe Evison, BMedSci project student (2018)
Current lab members
- Maria Victoria Humbert, post-doc