Bio
Mary O'Connell leads the RNA and Immunity research group at CEITEC Masaryk University, where she studies ADARs, the RNA editing enzymes and its role in influencing how cells distinguish between ‘self’ and ‘non-self’ nucleic acids. Her goal is to understand how ADAR1 affects both innate and adaptive immunity, particularly in the context of viral infections and those caused by plasmodium, a parasite responsible for e.g. malaria. At CEITEC, she held the prestigious ERA Chair position, which helped advance the institute's excellence in RNA and immunology research. For her research on ADARs, she was elected an EMBO member in 2017.
Mary Anne O'Connell received her PhD in Molecular Biology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. She did her postdoctoral research at MIT, Cambridge Massachusetts and at the Biozentrum Basel, Switzerland. She was a tenured Group Leader at the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh and did a sabbatical at Stockholm University before joining CEITEC.