Rate My Professor Alfredo Castello

Professor Alfredo Castello is the Professor in Systems Virology (Virology) at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, which is part of the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation and the School of Infection & Immunity within the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow. His academic interests and research specializations focus on systems virology, particularly the roles played by cellular RNA-binding proteins in virus infection, host-virus interactions mediated by viral RNA, and the dynamics of RNA biology during infection. As the Principal Investigator leading the Castello Group, he examines how RNA viruses depend on and hijack host RNA-binding proteins for key processes such as replication, processing, translation, and packaging of their genomic and messenger RNAs. His studies utilize prominent viral models including alphaviruses, HIV-1, and SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. The research employs a comprehensive multidisciplinary strategy that spans cell and molecular biology, RNA biology, virology, proteome-wide and transcriptomic omics approaches, super-resolution microscopy, and computational biology to uncover novel regulators of viral infection and potential targets for broad-spectrum antivirals.

Professor Castello has received major awards, fellowships, and grants, including the European Research Council Consolidator Grant titled 'Towards the discovery of cellular RNA-binding proteins with master regulatory roles in virus infection' (2021-2026), the Medical Research Council grant 'Proteome-Wide Identification of RNA-Binding Proteins Playing Critical Roles in Virus Infection' (2021-2022), the Wellcome Trust grant 'Understanding the Roles of Cellular RNA-Binding Proteins in HIV-1 Infection' (2023-2023), the EPSRC EU Guarantee grant 'RBP-ReguNet' (2023-2027), and the European Hematology Association Research Mobility Grant (2024-2024). His key publications feature high-impact works such as 'Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals' (Science, 2025), 'Pre-assembly of biomolecular condensate seeds drives RSV replication' (Nature, 2026), 'Coronaviruses reprogram the tRNA epitranscriptome to favor viral protein expression' (Nature Communications, 2026), 'A prenylated dsRNA sensor protects against severe COVID-19' (Science, 2021), 'Global analysis of protein-RNA interactions in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells reveals key regulators of infection' (Molecular Cell, 2021), 'Unconventional RNA-binding proteins step into the virus-host battlefront' (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: RNA, 2018), 'A brave new world of RNA-binding proteins' (Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 2018), and 'The small non-coding vault RNA1-1 acts as a riboregulator of autophagy' (Cell, 2019).