John Shannon was awarded the 2021 Norman P. Salzman Memorial Graduate Student Award in Basic and Clinical Virology and presented a talk at the 23rd annual symposium, titled “Group 1 innate lymphoid-cell-derived interferon-g maintains anti-viral vigilance in the mucosal epithelium.” As part of Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program (OxCam), John is completing his Ph.D. research between the department of pathology at the University of Cambridge and the NIAID Laboratory of Clinical Immunology & Microbiology (LCIM). Read more about John’s graduate experience at NIAID and his recent award.
"It is a true honor to receive this award among all of the amazing research that is occurring within the local virology community, particularly during the time of a global pandemic. I am certain this award will be instrumental as I progress throughout my career." - John Shannon
In my scientific career, I have realized that the most impactful projects and papers are those that venture into new academic territory. One way to make headway into the unknown is by adopting the techniques, skills, and perspectives of one discipline and applying them to another. This was my exact vision when devising a project for my graduate studies. In conjunction with NIAID and OxCam, I established a new collaboration between the LCIM under the supervision of Heather Hickman, Ph.D., and Geoffrey Smith, Ph.D., of the division of virology at the University of Cambridge. I am applying the virology expertise of the Smith group to the advanced immunological approaches used in Dr. Hickman’s group to understand how viral infections are controlled in peripheral tissues. Through this collaboration, I have generated recombinant viruses to delineate the roles of viral proteins in modulating the antiviral immune response and developed a novel model of viral infection of mucosal tissues. The implications of this work are grand for both academic disciplines––our findings were published in Immunity in which we report a novel role for type I innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s) limiting viral replication in the oral mucosa. Ongoing studies build upon these findings and have great potential to inform rational vaccine design and serve as a platform for the evaluation of therapeutics aimed at increasing the clearance of viral infections in the tissue. Another benefit of conducting a collaborative research project through a program like OxCam is the access to resources––NIAID’s technical prowess is unmatched in the field of immunology, and combined with the prestige of the University of Cambridge, it creates a powerful union.
An essential skill that this collaborative program has taught me is how to communicate between different fields of expertise. I have become proficient in describing the foundations of immunology to an audience of virologists, and vice versa. This class of technical translation of information was challenging at first but has proved to be useful when communicating to all audiences––from academics to the general public. Upon completion of the OxCam program, I hope to undergo medical training and work as an infectious disease specialist. These communication skills will undoubtedly be essential for the next stage of my career, as I communicate complex viral and immunologic etiologies to my patients or present clinical cases to researchers.
NIAID Mentor: Heather Hickman, Ph.D.
I feel extremely fortunate to have a graduate student in my laboratory as talented and dedicated as John Shannon. John joined my lab to perform his thesis work jointly with Professor Geoffrey Smith’s lab at Cambridge University as part of NIH’s Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program. The dual nature of the program accelerated John’s research and was perfectly suited to his personality; he loves to travel and experience new environments. John’s excitement for science is evident by the long hours he chooses to keep and in the thoughtful solutions he presents to solve technical and conceptual problems. He’s a valued laboratory member and colleague on two continents! It has been a delight to watch John’s tremendous scientific growth through his graduate work and it will be exciting to see what the future holds for his career.