Emma Thomson is a professor and clinical consultant in infectious diseases.
She runs the HIV and Hepatitis C treatment service within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as a research group focusing on emerging viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Hepatitis C.
In this video, Emma explains that scientific research sits at the heart of the National Health service as it is essential to better understand illness and develop new medicines.
To find out more, check out our Unseen Hands project page.
Dr Marko Noerenberg is a postdoctoral research associate at the CVR working on HIV.
In this video Marko explains how a tiny virus with so little genetic information can take over not only a cell but a whole organism such as a human being by hijacking machinery.
Marko is using new technology which aids in understanding how the activity of some human proteins change in the cell in hopes that some of these proteins can be used for host based antiviral therapy.
Find out more on our Unseen Hands project page.
Dr Adam Fletcher, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, discusses how the cells of our body detect viruses, and how some viruses evade detection.
Adam’s work focuses on HIV, a virus very good at evading immune detection. By uncovering how our cells detect viruses and how viruses can hide from them, Adam hopes to be able to harness new therapies for HIV.
Check out more work from our Unseen Hands project.
Dr Ana Da Silva Filipe is the head of the CVR Genomics Facility. Ana studies the genome of viruses to understand how they infect us and how they are transmitted.
Ana explains how we can use a viruses genetic material to uncover where it came from and potential treatments.
Find out more about our Unseen Hands project.
The unseen hands project is a co-creation between the Terrence Higgins Trust, Peer Support Scotland, and the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research. The project aims to battle stigma head on, in an engaging and creative manner.
The initial concept ‘The Journey of a Blood Sample’ connected those who study and research blood-borne virus samples with the source of those samples- people. The name ‘Unseen Hands’ tributes those involved in the research process, often looked over.
The CVR maintained reducing stigma at the forefront of the project, by engaging with diagnosed people and listening to their experiences. Language used was also considered and inclusive, creating a safe environment for individuals to share their lived-experiences.
Read more about our Unseen Hands Project here.
Unseen Hands is a partnership between the CVR and the Terrence Higgins Trust Peer Support Scotland Group (THT) which aims to explore the many different experiences of living with a blood-borne virus (BBV).
Through bringing fundamental virologists together with people living with a BBV we aim to encourage engagement, participation and sharing individual lived experience to connect with and inform research practice.
In doing so, we hope to break down barriers and encourage communication to address and reduce stigma and discrimination. We brought together people living with & affected by BBVs from across Scotland, as well as supporting charities, researchers and funding bodies. Together we developed an action-led manifesto for the future of BBV research & support which puts lived experience at its heart.
Read more about the project here: https://cvr-engagement.co.uk/unseen-hands
