Marie-Helene obtained her PhD in Biology & Microbiology from the University of Lyon, investigating the role of P-selectin (CD62P) in inflammatory and thrombotic process. She then moved to Edinburgh to join Professor Chris Haslett‘s group where she studied E-selectin (CD62E), integrins and neutrophils during inflammatory processes. Before joining the Kawamura group, Marie-Helene worked at Newcastle University on a variety of projects involving innate immunology and inflammation. These included studying the human immune response in epithelial cells following Enteropathogenic E.Coli (EPEC) infection along with the regulation of the innate immune response in severe lung injury & infection or testing potential antimicrobial agents such as p97 inhibitors acting as DNaA inhibitors in Staphyloccocus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. She is currently developing quantitative cellular assays to investigate inhibition of SARS-Cov2 main protease by cyclic peptides. She also leads on a wide range of cell based assay development and inhibitor screening against different therapeutic targets.