Tooley-Macarandang , Trinity

Trinity completed her Honours BSc in Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University in  May 2023. She quickly became interested in microbiology during her first-year research project focused on antibiotic discovery. Trinity was eager to expand her interest in microbiology to better understand virus-host interactions. Working under the supervision of Dr. Craig McCormick, Trinity’s research focused on developing a reverse genetics system for HCoV-OC43 in yeast. Her honours thesis aimed to characterize a relationship between a host post-translational modification and coronavirus infection. Trinity’s passion for fundamental virology and virus-host immunologic interactions led her to join Dr. Che Colpitts' lab for graduate studies at Queens' University! Currently, she is investigating how the hepatitis C viral protein, NS5A, is able to modulate the expression of TLR4 and its role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.