Dr. Dami Collier

Biography

Dami Collier is a Clinical Lecturer in Medical Virology at the University of Cambridge. His research interests focus on viruses of global health significance, particularly the within-host evolution of HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. He has conducted extensive studies on HIV-1, emphasizing independent replication within the central nervous system (CNS) and the characterization of the genotypic and phenotypic properties of CNS viruses. Dami led a clinical cohort study involving HIV-1 positive patients with mild-moderate neurocognitive disorders at the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, South Africa. His collaborative work with the Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust allowed him access to 100 paired plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, where he discovered that CSF escape is uncommon and involves genetically distinct, independently replicating viral populations. His investigations into SARS-CoV-2 have identified viral diversity in chronically infected patients using next-generation sequencing, revealing intrahost viral evolution driven by immune escape and the neutralizing antibodies' absence of adequate B and T cell responses. His findings provide critical insights into the dynamic evolution of viruses, particularly their capacity to adapt and pose challenges to long-term vaccine effectiveness and pandemic control.

Research Interests