Dr Conor Finlay
Senior Research Fellow, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute
- Research Institute:
Trinity Translational Medicine Institute
- Contact e-mail:
- Thematic Area:
Translational Immunology Studies and Therapeutics/ Vaccine Studies
Research Profile:
Conor, a cellular immunologist with bioinformatics skills, completed his PhD (2013) and first ‘Post-Doc’ at TCD studying interactions between T cells and innate immune cells during inflammation. In 2017, he went on to study macrophage dynamics in infection at the University of Manchester, returning to Ireland in early 2021
Myeloid cells as drivers of pathology and mortality in SARS-CoV2 infection
Myeloid cells are the primary ‘effector’ cells of the immune system. They carry out many of the core functions of immunity including killing microbes. The myeloid cells of interest to us are the monocyte/macrophage lineage and the neutrophil, both of which are produced in the bone marrow in huge quantities each day for export to the bloodstream. In the blood they respond to signs of inflammation, allowing them to enter infected tissues. Generally thought of as protective, these cells can also cause tissue damage and thus they are tightly controlled by the body. Severe COVID-19 is correlated with the inappropriate entry of large numbers of myeloid cells into the lung. The exact reasons for this are unknown. We will study these cells in detail and aim to further explain why some patients have worse disease outcomes than others. Such knowledge will better prepare us in targeting treatments for COVID-19.
