Philippa Matthews is Clinical Science Group Leader and head of the HBV elimination laboratory at the Crick.
Philippa works on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, using molecular biology to inform insights into the interplay between host and pathogen, developing an enhanced understanding of the burden and characteristics of disease, refining approaches to monitoring and treatment, and informing preventive interventions.
Philippa obtained a BSc and then completed medical training at Nottingham University in 2000. She trained in postgraduate medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, UCL and King’s College Hospital, before moving to Liverpool to study for a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. After spending time gaining clinical experience in Malawi, Philippa returned to the UK to take up a training post in infectious diseases and microbiology in Oxford. Supported by an MRC fellowship award, she undertook a D.Phil studying the immunology of chronic HIV infection, working closely with collaborators in South Africa. While completing specialist training, she re-focused her research on HBV infection with funding from a NIHR Lectureship, and took up a consultant post in clinical infection in 2015. A year later, she was awarded a Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship, and established her group in Oxford, working in partnership with clinical research teams in South Africa and Uganda. She joined the Francis Crick Institute as a clinical group leader in 2021.
