NEWS The UCMR community welcomed keen football player and professor Emma Thomson to a summer warm Umeå for networking with the community and to give a talk on AAV2 and immune dysregulation in children with unexplained hepatitis.
Trio in virus research: Professor Emma Thomson together with host professor Niklas Arnberg (left) and professor emeritus Göran Wadell (right)
ImageIngrid Söderberghinspiring to visit an institution that fosters such a strong and positive scientific culture
“It was a real pleasure to visit Umeå University, famous to me as an outsider because of Emmanuelle Charpentier and her outstanding work on CRISPR-Cas9, and because of professor Niklas Arnberg’s work on adenovirus infections (particularly HAdV F41). The university is in a beautiful location, and there is a lovely culture of open and curiosity-driven research,” says Emma Thomson, Clinical professor of infectious diseases MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) and Professor of Emerging Viruses London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Emma Thomson work mostly at the MRC-Centre for Virus Research in Glasgow, but she contributes to the National Health Service 20 percent of her time, working at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital. It claims to be one of the largest hospitals in Europe and provides free healthcare to anyone who comes to the front door.
“The highlight of my stay in Umeå was the opportunity to talk science with several excellent Swedish scientists in both formal, and more informal settings by the river and over a glass of wine. Because the sun never completely goes down at this time of year, it seemed that these conversations could continue indefinitely”, says Emma Thomson.
Emerging viral infections are an ever-present threat to human health. The risk of transmission of viruses to previously unexposed populations has increased as a result of increased global travel, global warming and changes in our ecosystem and human behaviour.
Emma Thomson is passionate about emerging viral infections, and football.
Image[Fotograf saknas]This is Emma Thomson’s passion and she has worked on a number of emerging viral infections including AAV2, mpox, SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis C and E, Ebola virus, emerging rhabdovirusesand Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV). She leads the Preparedness platform at the CVR and provides advice to the UK Health Security Agency and WHO on emerging viruses. Her laboratory uses next generation sequencing to identify emerging viruses and to explore how these evolve under selection by the host immune response.
Within the framework of the UCMR Distinguished Guests Seminars Series, Emma Thomson’s lecture focused on her study on children with unexplained hepatitis. An outbreak of acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children was reported in Scotland in April 2022 and was later identified in 35 other countries. Emma Thompson and her team carried out a detailed case–control investigation and found an association between the adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) infection, co-infection with the human adenovirus (HAdV) and host genetics (HLA DRB1*04:01) in disease susceptibility.
Using next-generation sequencing, PCR with reverse transcription, serology and in situ hybridization, they detected recent infection with AAV2 in plasma and liver samples in the majority of affected patients. More recently they have been investigating the breadth and specificity of the AAV-2 directed T-cell mediated response in affected children.
Emma Thomson received a diploma and a small gift after the Distinguished Guests Seminar from UCMR Deputy Director Marta Bally.
Image[Fotograf saknas]“I think that we must be selective about travel as scientists because of the climate, but that in-person creative conversations which occur spontaneously cannot be replicated on zoom. As scientists, I think we should use our positions to promote and enjoy international cooperation. It was inspiring to visit an institution that fosters such a strong and positive scientific culture. I think that this is essential to empower younger scientists and I can see why Umeå helped in the formation of a recent Nobel laureate.”
"This is not my first visit to Sweden – but it is my first visit so far north and so I plan to go camping in the woods and visit the tree-houses in Granö Beckasin. I would love to see a bear!"
UCMR Distinguished Guests Seminar Series (DGSS) aim to invite top internal scientists to present in Umeå. The mission of this programme is to inspire researches in Umeå and to connect the research environment of UCMR to the world.
