Summary
Dr Sheppard is a Research Fellow hosted in Professor Wendy Barclay’s group within the Section of Virology. She has a keen interest in RNA polymerases – the molecular machines that govern gene expression. Her research is focused on understanding the regulation of viral RNA polymerases by host encoded proteins. Her ultimate goal is the exploit the dependency of viral polymerases on host factors to inform and develop novel antiviral strategies.
Research
Carol was awarded a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from Imperial College London in 2012. Under the supervision of Professor Ramesh Wigneshweraraj she explored the anti-microbial potential of phage-encoded proteins by demonstrating their potent inhibition of the bacterial-host RNA polymerase. She then moved to Professor Finn Werner’s group at at UCL where she transitioned to the 3rd domain of life and initiated a research stream to study the interplay between unique hyperthermophilic viruses and their archaeal hosts.
In 2018 Carol joined the Barclay lab where she investigates how influenza viruses utilise the host cell protein ANP32 in order to support the activity of the viral RNA polymerase. The group have shown that ANP32 is essential for influenza replication and host species-specific features of these proteins dictate the infectivity of influenza strains. In 2022 Carol was awarded Imperial Seeds for Success funding to initiate a novel proximity proteomics approach for determining the protein interactors of viral RNA synthesis machinery.
Teaching
Carol is a dedicated supervisor and mentor to undergraduate and postgraduate students and in 2021 she was awarded the ‘Imperial President’s Award for Excellence in Education’ as an outstanding assistant supervisor. Carol also lectures on the MSc Molecular Biology & Pathology of Viruses, MSc Molecular Medicine and MSc Genomic Medicine courses. Additionally, Carol is an active member of the departmental equality, diversity and inclusion committee that encompasses the Athena Swan charter. It is her ambition to help future researchers achieve a healthy work-life balance.
Publications
Journals
Idoko-Akoh A, Goldhill DH, Sheppard CM, et al., 2023, Creating resistance to avian influenza infection through genome editing of the ANP32 gene family., Nat Commun, Vol:14
Sheppard C, Barclay W, Goldhill D, et al., 2023, An Influenza A virus can evolve to use human ANP32E through altering polymerase dimerization, Nature Communications, Vol:14, ISSN:2041-1723
Peacock T, Sheppard C, Lister M, et al., 2023, Mammalian ANP32A and ANP32B proteins drive differential polymerase adaptations in avian influenza virus, Journal of Virology, Vol:97, ISSN:0022-538X, Pages:1-13
Swann O, Rasmussen A, Peacock T, et al., 2023, Avian Influenza A Virus polymerase can utilise human ANP32 proteins to support cRNA but not vRNA synthesis, Mbio, Vol:14, ISSN:2150-7511, Pages:1-14
Swann OC, Rasmussen AB, Peacock TP, et al., 2022, Avian Influenza A Virus polymerase can utilise human ANP32 proteins to support cRNA but not vRNA synthesis