DrSanjay Swaminathan

Dr Swaminathan's research interests have focused on how viral infections affect the immune system. The EBV Molecular Laboratory (which he heads) is dedicated to understanding the molecular underpinnings of how EBV infection modulates the expression of at risk genes in the development of autoimmune disease. We use a range of experimental and in-silico methodologies to study EBV infection and we envisage that our work will lead to novel therapeutics targeting viral proteins that treat or prevent immune mediated diseases.

He is particularly interested in exploring the role between non-coding RNAs (such as miRNAs) and key immune proteins that may lead to immune dysregulation. Other projects in the lab are aimed at using siRNAs to knock down key viral proteins to see if this reduces the expression of at risk genes that lead to autoimmunity. Understanding the gender disparity is also one of the key goals of the laboratory.