International Post-Doctoral Fellow Key Part of UMB Lab Testing COVID-19 Anti-Virals
When he first became interested in virology as an undergraduate, little did Stuart Weston know it lead him to a lab in Baltimore studying COVID-19 in the midst of a global pandemic.
"I read about COVID-19 January 3 and thought it wouldn't go anywhere," Weston said with a chuckle.
As a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Microbiology working in the lab of Matthew Frieman, PhD at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, Weston was working on antiviral development and vaccines and understanding viral pathogenesis, specifically a broad-spectrum anti-viral for flu and coronaviruses. That project has been a bit on hold since February when COVID-19 hit.
Frieman's UMB lab was one of the first three labs in the United States to get samples of COVID-19 in early February and is now doing clinical trials for companies.
"We were there before it was cool," Weston said.
The lab has SARS-1, which very few labs have, and can do MERS and SARS-2, including COVID-19. "If the broad-spectrum anti-viral hits all three coronaviruses, it will work for future ones," he said.
Weston, who hails from Oxfordshire, England, was drawn to virology as an undergraduate student. He thought about going into medicine but tried out microbiology. After working in a San Diego lab at 19 following his first year of college, Weston found he really liked working in the lab.
"I liked viruses the more I worked with them," Weston said. "I wanted to learn about normal cell function and what viruses do to mess them up."
After earning his PhD from Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology at University College London, Weston came to UMB in 2016 specifically to work in a lab working on coronaviruses.
"I wanted to pick up the skills to work in this type of situation if it arrived," he said.
He eventually hopes to set up his own lab back in England.
But right now, Weston is busy doing vaccine testing for companies.
"We're testing, testing, testing. We haven't stopped and have ramped up," Weston said. "March and April were the most stressful months working."
"We're making progress with everything," he added.