Scientific advice and consultancy
Expert input on mRNA, RNA therapeutic and antiviral programmes: target assessment, experimental design, data review, scientific due diligence and advisory board roles.
Work with us
Virology and RNA expertise for your R&D
We work with biotech and pharmaceutical companies, investors and research organisations on mRNA and RNA therapeutics, antivirals and respiratory virus biology, as advisers, collaborators and research partners.
How we can help
Ways to work together
Sponsored and collaborative research
Projects run in our lab with your team, from focused proof-of-concept studies to longer partnerships, including joint applications to Innovate UK, UKRI and Horizon Europe schemes.
Industry-partnered PhD studentships
Co-supervised PhD projects that give your company a dedicated researcher on a shared question, and give the student real industry experience.
Talks and training
Seminars and workshops for R&D teams on influenza and respiratory virus biology, mRNA modifications, RNA therapeutics and antivirals.
12 monthsin R&D at GlaxoSmithKline
3US patent applications, including antiviral compounds
€1.8M+competitive funding won as sole PI
3leading institutes: Duke, Institut Pasteur, Queen’s
Expertise
What we know well
David has worked on RNA medicines since his PhD and spent a year inside industry R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. The lab combines that translational outlook with deep knowledge of how respiratory viruses use host RNA machinery. In 2026 David was selected as an Entrepreneurial Lead on Innovate UK’s ICURe Discover programme, which trains researchers to test the market for their ideas by talking to the companies and people who would use them.
mRNA and RNA modifications
How chemical marks such as m6A, m5C and pseudouridine control mRNA translation and gene expression, the same questions that shape mRNA vaccine and therapeutic design. Builds on David’s papers in Cell Host & Microbe and mBio and a US patent application on boosting transgene expression.
RNA therapeutics
Design and testing of siRNA and allele-specific CRISPR/Cas9 therapies, carried through to in vivo models during David’s PhD and postdoctoral work.
Antivirals
Screening compounds against respiratory viruses in human airway cells, including a drug repurposing platform that identified a candidate against SARS-CoV-2, and a US patent application on new antiviral compounds.
Viral RNA biology
How influenza A virus RNA is modified, exported, translated and trafficked, and which host proteins it depends on at each step.
RNA–protein interactions
Capturing the proteins that bind a given RNA inside infected cells, and testing what each one does.
Virus systems
Influenza A virus, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 in cell lines and airway epithelial cultures, the mucosal surface where respiratory infection starts, with reverse genetics and reporter viruses. Also HIV-1, murine leukemia virus (MLV) and AAV vectors.
How it works
Simple to set up
- A first conversation. Email David with a short outline. An initial call can take place under a confidentiality agreement if you need one.
- A clear scope. We agree the question, the deliverables and the timeline.
- A contract through Queen’s. Agreements are arranged through Queen’s University Belfast, which handles contracts, confidentiality and intellectual property in the usual way.
Get in touch
Tell us what you are working on
A few lines on your programme and what you need is plenty.