The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr Laura McCoullough

Dr Laura McCoullough

- | laura.mccoullough@mh.org.au

Position:
Medical Scientist
Theme(s):
Viral Infectious Diseases, Hepatitis
Unit(s):
The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)
Lab Group(s):
Revill Group, Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)

Dr Laura McCoullough is an early-career researcher in the Revill/Littlejohn Lab at the Doherty Institute. Laura completed her PhD studies at the Doherty Institute, researching a novel treatment for chronic hepatitis B infection using CRISPR-Cas13b. She has continued on these studies during her postdoc.

  • Key Achievements
    • Dr McCoullough has developed a potential new novel treatment for chronic hepatitis B infection using CRISPR-Cas13b which effectively reduces hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication in cell culture models. This research has been published in the Journal of Hepatology. Dr McCoullough has also identified one HBV splice variant that strongly reduces HBV replication in cell culture, this work published in the Journal of Virology.

      Laura was awarded the inaugural 2024 ACHV Scott Bowden Award for HBV Research.

    Publications
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    Research Groups
    • Revill Group

      The Revill Group is focusing on developing novel mechanisms to cure chronic hepatitis B disease, targeting multiple aspects of the virus replication cycle and stimulating antiviral host immune responses 


      Lab Team

      Revill Group

      • Head of Regional and Global Health, VIDRL | Head of International Research Partnerships, Doherty Institute
      • Senior Medical Scientist
      • Medical Scientist
      • Zak Janetzki
        PhD Candidate
      • Mina Takawy
        Medical Scientist
      • Olivia Maslac
        Medical Scientist
      • Yianni Droungas
        Medical Scientist
      • Romaine Perera
        Honours Student
    • Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)

      The Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) is a leading Australian infectious diseases reference laboratory at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (the Doherty). VIDRL provides laboratory services for the Department of Health Victoria, Victorian hospitals and clinics, the Commonwealth Department of Health, and the World Health Organisation.