Dr. Chris Illingworth

Biography

I have an interdisciplinary research background with a PhD in computational chemistry from the University of Essex and an undergraduate training in mathematics. My postdoctoral research in theoretical chemistry was at the University of Oxford, after which I shifted my focus to evolutionary biology during a second postdoc at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. Here, I developed methods to analyze time-resolved genome sequence data from rapidly evolving populations. In 2013, I established my research group at the University of Cambridge, funded by a Henry Dale Fellowship, working on rapid evolutionary processes in pathogens. I have had brief stints at Queen Mary University of London and the MRC Biostatistics Unit in Cambridge, with visiting positions in Computer Science at the University of Helsinki and in Physics at the University of Köln. In 2021, I moved to the MRC University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, where I currently lead my group studying virus infection, evolution, and transmission, with particular focus on respiratory viruses such as RSV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza. In my work, I build models to consider phenotypes and receptor binding processes in viral entry into cells, examining the effectiveness of viruses that infect cells and developing mathematical models using differential equations to describe stages of the viral life cycle. My recent studies assess antiviral treatments and their genomic impacts on viral mutation rates. I also evaluate viral population changes in single-host infections and the complexities of virus evolution. A key area of my work is understanding nosocomial virus transmission, utilizing genomic data to inform hospital staff about infection management and implementing preventative interventions. My group continually evolves, integrating new research methods and technologies while fostering collaborations across various quantitative research backgrounds.

Research Interests

Experience