Redmond Smyth

Biography

Redmond Smyth is a research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), and works at the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology (IBMC) at the University of Strasbourg.

He obtained his BA degree in natural sciences at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). He then moved to Australia, where he obtained his PhD in virology at the Burnet Institute through the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Monash University in Melbourne. His post-doctoral research took him to the University of Strasbourg (France), where he trained as an RNA biochemist and pioneered high throughput methodologies to study RNA structure and function. In 2015, he was recruited to the CNRS as research scientist. In 2018, he started his research group at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg (Germany), where he was appointed assistant professor at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg. Over the next six years, his laboratory developed a series of increasingly sophisticated technologies to dissect virus-host interactions.

Since 2024, when he returned to Strasbourg, Dr. Smyth leads the Genome biology of viruses laboratory within the RNA Structure and Reactivity (ARN) unit of the IBMC. His team studies different RNA viruses like HIV, influenza and coronavirus, to understand how these viruses multiply within cells in order to develop new methods to effectively combat them.

Fellowship 2026

Dates - 01/09/2026-31/08/2028

Project summary

OPTICAL SCREENING OF HOST FACTORS REGULATING INFLUENZA VIRUS ASSEMBLY

This project aims to uncover how host cellular factors regulate the assembly of influenza viruses, a critical yet poorly understood stage of the viral life cycle. Influenza virions must package exactly eight distinct RNA segments into each particle to be fully infectious. This process is thought to rely on highly specific RNA–RNA interactions that ensure selective genome assembly. However, how these interactions are coordinated within the complex cellular environment remains largely unknown. This highly selective process is likely facilitated by host cell factors, but current genetic screening methods fail to resolve these mechanisms because they cannot interrogate late-stage assembly events. To address this gap, the project will develop an innovative optical pooled screening approach combining high-content imaging with in situ sequencing, enabling direct visualization of viral RNA localization, and their perturbation by CRISPR-mediated knockdown at the single-cell level.

The research is structured around two main objectives. First, the team will build an automated microfluidics and imaging platform by repurposing an Illumina HiSeq sequencing instrument for multi-cycle imaging and barcode decoding. This will enable scalable, reproducible, and high-throughput analysis of spatial phenotypes. Second, this platform will be used to perform targeted CRISPRi screens to identify host factors involved in viral RNA nuclear export and intracellular trafficking, which are key steps required for proper genome assembly and coordination of segment interactions.

Building on prior development of methodologies for spatial RNA detection, the project integrates expertise in RNA biology, imaging, and genome engineering. It is supported by strong collaborations in microfluidics, host–pathogen interactions, and computational analysis. Upon completion, it will deliver the first genetic screen specifically targeting influenza virus assembly and identify novel host factors involved in genome packaging. Beyond virology, it will establish a versatile, open-access imaging and sequencing platform applicable to a wide range of spatial biology questions, positioning Strasbourg as a hub for advanced optical screening technologies and enabling future genome-wide studies of complex cellular processes.