Collier Group
Our Research:
My research integrates clinical insights from my work as an infectious diseases physician with advanced virological investigation. My doctoral training focused on the within-host evolution of HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, with a particular emphasis on independent viral replication within the central nervous system (CNS) and the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of these CNS-adapted viruses.
Through next-generation sequencing, I characterised SARS-CoV-2 diversity in a chronically infected individual, revealing that intra-host viral evolution was driven by immune escape from neutralising antibodies in the context of insufficient B and T cell responses. These findings not only illuminated the dynamic adaptability of a virus previously thought to evolve slowly at the population level but also anticipated the mechanisms underpinning the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Publications:
Kelly SH, Nightingale S, Gupta RK, Collier DA. HIV Cerebrospinal Fluid Escape: Interventions for the Management, Current Evidence and Future Perspectives. Trop Med Infect Dis. 2025 Feb 5;10(2):45. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed10020045. PMID: 39998049; PMCID: PMC11860496.
Collier DA, Ferreira IATM, Kotagiri P, Datir R, Lim E, Touizer E, et al. Age-related immune response heterogeneity to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BNT162b2. Nature 596, 417–422 (2021). PMID: 34192737
Collier DA, De Marco A, Ferreira IATM, Meng B, Datir RP, Walls AC, et al. Sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 to mRNA vaccine-elicited antibodies. Nature 593, 136–141 (2021). PMID: 33706364
Kemp SA, Collier DA, Datir RP, Ferreira I, Gayed S, Jahun A, et al. SARS-CoV-2 evolution during treatment of chronic infection. Nature. 2021;592(7853):277-82.
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