Principal Investigator
Dr David Courtney
Senior Lecturer in Molecular Virology, Queen’s University Belfast
- UK Ambassador for the ERC
- ERC Starting Grant holder
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow
- Innovate UK ICURe Entrepreneurial Lead
- BBSRC Panel of Experts
- MSCA panel Vice-Chair
About
Virologist, RNA biologist, advocate for frontier research
Molecular virologist and RNA biologist. David leads The Courtney Group at Queen’s University Belfast, which studies how influenza A virus RNA recruits host machinery to be modified, exported, translated and trafficked, and how those dependencies can be turned into RNA therapeutics and antivirals. His work on mRNA modifications such as m6A, m5C and pseudouridine, which control how well an mRNA is translated, bears directly on mRNA vaccines and medicines. He has won over €1.8M in competitive funding as sole PI, sits on BBSRC and European funding panels, and represents the United Kingdom as an Ambassador for the European Research Council.
David trained in Biomedical Sciences at Ulster University, including a year in GlaxoSmithKline’s BioPharm R&D division, and stayed at Ulster for a PhD developing siRNA and CRISPR medicines for inherited eye disease. He then moved into virology as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, first at Duke University and then at Institut Pasteur in Paris, where he helped show how chemical modifications on viral RNA control how well viruses such as influenza and HIV-1 replicate.
He returned to Belfast in 2020, worked on antiviral drug repurposing during the COVID-19 pandemic, became a regular expert voice on BBC television and radio, and founded The Courtney Group in 2021 with a €1.57M ERC Starting Grant. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2025, the same year the group’s first PhD students graduated. In April 2025 he was appointed the United Kingdom’s Ambassador for the European Research Council, one of 32 researchers making the case for investment in frontier science. He sits on the BBSRC Panel of Experts and is Vice-Chair of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowship panel. In September 2026 he was selected as an Entrepreneurial Lead on Innovate UK’s competitive, UKRI-funded ICURe Discover programme, which helps researchers take discoveries from the lab towards real-world use.
David is a STEM NI Ambassador and a Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, and regularly hosts school pupils and undergraduates in the lab. See the lab’s citizenship work.
Career
From GSK to the ERC
- 2025 –
Senior Lecturer in Molecular Virology
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
- 2021 – 2025
Lecturer and ERC Research Fellow
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
Founded The Courtney Group with an ERC Starting Grant.
- 2020 – 2021
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Virology
Queen’s University Belfast, UK
High-throughput drug repurposing screens against SARS-CoV-2 in airway epithelial cells.
- 2019 – 2020
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Developed methods to identify the host RNA-binding proteins of influenza A virus RNAs.
- 2016 – 2019
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow
Duke University, North Carolina, USA
Showed how m6A and m5C RNA modifications regulate influenza A virus, HIV-1 and other viruses.
- 2010 – 2011
Industrial placement, BioPharm R&D
GlaxoSmithKline, UK
Twelve months in molecular expression and cell line development.
- 2012 – 2015
PhD, Molecular Biology
Ulster University, UK
The development of personalised medicines for corneal dystrophies (siRNA and CRISPR therapeutics).
- 2008 – 2012
BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences with industrial studies, First Class
Ulster University, UK
David’s research has been funded by
Recognition
Leadership and service
- 2026 –
Entrepreneurial Lead, Innovate UK ICURe Discover programme
Competitively selected for the UKRI-funded programme that helps researchers test the commercial potential of their research through market discovery.
- 2025 –
UK Ambassador for the European Research Council
One of 32 ERC grantees chosen to make the case for frontier research to policymakers, the media and the research community.
- Current
Vice-Chair, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships panel
- 2024 –
Member, BBSRC Panel of Experts
- Current
Elected member, Virology Division Committee
- 2024
Chair and organiser, UK ERC Showcase
Flagship event with panels featuring Nobel Laureate Prof Emmanuelle Charpentier and Prof Teresa Lambe OBE.
- 2023 – 2024
Contributor, US National Academies report “Toward Sequencing and Mapping of RNA Modifications”
Invited ideation panel delegate (2023) and co-author of a commissioned paper (2024).
- 2021 – 2024
Grant reviewer
- Current
Module Coordinator, MSc Research Project
- Current
STEM NI Ambassador
- 2014 –
Fellow of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
Member of the Microbiology Society, American Society for Virology and RNA Society.
Funding
Grants and awards
- 2021 – 2026
ERC Starting Grant: PTFLU, post-transcriptional regulation of influenza A virus RNA
European Research Council · sole PI · grant 948834
€1,568,010 to establish The Courtney Group.
- 2023 – 2026
MRC research grant: host ATPases in rhinovirus replication
UKRI Medical Research Council · co-investigator · MR/X020371/1
£458,574.
- 2024 – 2025
Royal Society Partnership Grant
The Royal Society · with Regent House School
A research project run with secondary school pupils.
- 2017 – 2020
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship: IAV-m6A
European Commission · sole PI · Duke University and Institut Pasteur
€260,000 to study m6A RNA methylation in influenza A virus replication and pathogenesis.
- 2015
Postgraduate Student of the Year (John RE Scott Convocation award)
Ulster University
- 2014 – 2015
Churchill Fellowship
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust
€7,600 for research stays in Italy and Denmark.
Selected papers
Key publications
- 2026
Myoferlin is a component of late-stage vRNP trafficking vesicles for enveloped RNA viruses
Nature Communications 17 · cited 1 times
- 2024
The RBPome of influenza A virus mRNA reveals a role for TDP-43 in viral replication
Nucleic Acids Research · cited 17 times
- 2024
Identifying cellular RNA-binding proteins during infection uncovers a role for MKRN2 in influenza mRNA trafficking
PLoS Pathogens 20(5): e1012231 · cited 12 times
- 2017
Epitranscriptomic enhancement of influenza A virus gene expression and replication
Cell Host & Microbe 22(3): 377–386 · cited 228 times
- 2019
Epitranscriptomic regulation of HIV-1 gene expression by m5C
Cell Host & Microbe 26(2): 217–227 · cited 225 times
Intellectual property
Patent applications
- 2024
Novel compounds for the treatment of viral infections
US patent application 18/550,005
- 2019
Compositions and methods for enhanced gene expression and viral replication
US patent application 16/091,822
Using m6A-associated cellular machinery to boost transgene expression or viral replication.
- 2019
Single guide RNA/CRISPR/Cas9 systems, and methods of use thereof
US patent application 16/326,908
Allele-specific CRISPR/Cas9 systems for treating corneal dystrophies.
People
Mentoring and leadership
- Mentored Dr Hannah Turkington to a competitive three-year BBSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2024).
- PhD graduates went straight to postdoctoral posts at the University of Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen.
- MSc graduates have moved into government science roles, including Forensic Science NI.
- EMBO Laboratory Leadership course and UKRI Future Leaders Fellows leadership retreat (2024).
Out and about
Talks and media
- Regular expert voice on BBC television and national radio during the COVID-19 pandemic, explaining viral mutation, immune escape and variant surveillance.
- Long-form articles for The Conversation reaching international readers.
- Works with regional health bodies and schools to promote influenza vaccination awareness.
- 2026
Invited speaker: Building ERC-competitive research
University of Split, Croatia
- 2024
Event chair: UK ERC Showcase
Queen’s University Belfast
- 2023
Delegate: ideation panel on RNA modification mapping
US National Academy of Sciences
- 2020
Invited speaker: ANRS International Symposium on RNA Modifications
Institut Cochin, Paris
Curriculum vitae
Need David’s CV?
Career history, funding, service, patents and selected publications, kept up to date with this site.