Helena Winstone

Pathway 0+3.5

Cohort 2018

Pathway Journey

Understanding the molecular determinants of IFITM resistance in viral entry glycoproteins

Biography

I did my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences at King’s followed by two years working in medical communcations. I then completed my masters degree in Infection and Immunity at UCL, where my research project involved investigating the role of activation of SAMHD1 by triggering of TLR4 and how this can inhibit HIV-1 infection in macrophages. Back at King’s again, my PhD project centres around the viral entry of two pandemic viruses, HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, and investigating how different variants of these viruses are more or less sensitive to restriction by the antiviral proteins IFITMs.

Publications

Helena Winstone & Maria Jose Lista, Alisha Reid, Clement Bouton, Suzanne Pickering, Rui Pedro Galao, Claire Kerridge, Katie Doores, Chad Swanson, Stuart Neil. The polybasic cleavage site in the SARS-CoV-2 spike modulates viral sensitivity to Type I IFN and IFITM2. Journal of Virology. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.02422-20.

Maria Jose Lista & Helena Winstone, Harry Wilson, Adam Dyer, Suzanne Pickering, Pedro Galao, Giuditta De Lorenzo, Vanessa M. Cowton, Wilhelm Furnon, Nicolas Suarez, Richard Orton, Massimo Palmarini, Arvind H. Patel, Luke Snell, Gaia Nebbia, Chad Swanson, Stuart J D Neil. The P681H mutation in the Spike glycoprotein escapes IFITM restriction and is necessary for type I interferon resistance in the SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant. BioXriv. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.08.11.503706.

Awards

Conferences

Cold Spring Harbour 2022 – poster presentation.
Annual Conference of the Microbiology Society 2022 – oral presentation.
Annual Conference of the Microbiology Society 2021 – oral presentation.
Cold Spring Harbour 2020 – poster presentation.

Social Media