Professor Aideen Long
Principal Investigator; Director, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute
- Research Institute:
Trinity Translational Medicine Institute
- Contact e-mail:
- Contact number:
- Thematic Area:
Diagnostic / Screening Assays and Translational Immunology Studies
Research Profile:
Aideen Long is a Principal Investigator in the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute where her research focuses on T lymphocyte biology. In particular, she is interested in the intracellular signalling mechanisms involved in T cell activation and migration. Her work has also investigated how viruses such as Hepatitis C (HCV) undermine T cell immune responses to promote persistent infection.
COVID-19 Project:
SARS-CoV-2 causes respiratory disease of varying severity and while many individuals are free of COVID-19 symptoms after a couple of weeks others can suffer from long-term side effects. This project aims to investigate the protective and pathological adaptive immune responses to COVID-19 and in doing so potentially uncovering an immune basis for symptoms associated with severe COVID-19. The study will characterise T cell responses in mild versus severe disease and identify T cell signatures and associated novel pathways. The SARS-CoV-2 virus specific T cell responses in COVID-19 exposed individuals will be characterised as well as pathological T cell immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. The study will identify and characterise T cell immune responses associated with ‘long COVID-19’. By identifying T cell signatures and novel pathways potential therapeutic targets maybe uncovered that could be exploited for successful vaccination.
