Connor Scott

I am a postdoctoral research fellow in the Professor Daniel Waterson's laboratory, specialising in structure-guided design of vaccines and therapeutics for emerging viruses, with a specific focus on flaviviral diseases.

My research journey began with a Bachelor of Science, First Class Honours in Microbiology from the Unviersity of Queensland (2018). Then in my PhD (2019-2023) under Profesors Daniel Watterson, Keith Chappell and Paul Young I developed antibody discovery platforms for two viral vaccine techniologies, namely the Molecular Clamp and the ISVac chimeric viruses. I used these technologies to develop therapeutic candidates for treatment of dengue which were successfully used in animal models of dengue virus infection. During my candidature I also contributed to the development of the UQ COVID Vaccine which progressed to Phase I clinical trials and the continued development of next generation Molecular Clamp stabilised vaccines.

Since 2023, I have been a postdoctoral research with Professor Daniel Watterson and my work has focussed on structural characterisation of antibody and virus interactions and development of broad-spectrum therapies for flaviviruses. I use a combination of molecular virology, antibody discovery, and cryogenic electron microscopy to define key neutralising antibody epitopes on flavivirues, primarliy Japanese encpahlitis virus, and then use this information to rationally inform broad-spectrum vaccine and therapeutic design.