Heather Long, PhD

Dr. Long is a Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. Her research is focused on human immune responses to viruses and cancer, to inform the development of vaccines and immunotherapy for virus-associated disease. Her current research is on the regulation of cytotoxic function and the development of tissue resident virus specific CD4+ T cells. It is vital to enable these important cells to be harnessed by vaccines and immunotherapy. More recently, Dr. Long has identified many novel targets of the CD4+ T cell response by studying the impact of novel variants on T cell recognition. Her research has advanced the search for novel vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections with the ultimate goal to address future pandemics caused by other viruses, including coronaviruses.