Dr Anusha Panjwani

Anusha Panjwani is a post-doctoral scientist in the Picornavirus Structure group and is funded by a Medical Research Council grant. She is interested in understanding virus entry mechanisms of non-enveloped viruses with a current focus on human rhinovirus, poliovirus and foot-and-mouth disease virus. This research is in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and University of Leuven and uses a range of biochemical and biophysical approaches to further understand the cell entry process of picornaviruses. With collaborators, efforts are underway to identify and explore compounds as inhibitors virus cell entry. Structural techniques are used to understand this inhibition at the atomic level.

Anusha did her BSc (Hons) Biosciences (2.1) and an MSc Biosciences (Infection and immunity specialisation) (1st class). She received her PhD from the University of Leeds. Her PhD was on ‘Picornavirus entry: membrane permeability induced by capsid protein VP4’. Her research was carried out at The Pirbright Institute and Harvard Medical School. Dr Panjwani is a STEM ambassador and participates in a number of public engagement activities including giving talks on virology, participating in science festivals and career advice days. She also has an interest in science policy and recently carried out research at the Parliamentary office of science and technology and authored a POSTnote on ‘GM Insects and Disease Control’.