Dr Cheryl Walter

Dr Cheryl Walter

Senior lecturer in Biomedical Science

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Health Sciences
  • Hull York Medical School

Qualifications

  • BSc (Rhodes University)
  • MRes (Rhodes University)
  • PhD / DPhil (Rhodes University)
  • FHEA (University of Hull)
  • PGCert (Higher Education Academy)

Summary

Cheryl completed her PhD in Microbiology from Rhodes University, South Africa in 2008 involving Tetraviruses. Post completing her PhD, Cheryl has a sustained academic career spanning 16 years that has involved both research into emerging viral pathogens and science communication and outreach. Cheryl is a passionate Microbiology educator, teaching on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, including laboratory projects. Cheryl is interested in the molecular virology of RNA viruses, in particular, the mechanisms of virion assembly and egress and the host pathways that are sequestered for virion formation, and drug repurposing for novel antiviral compounds. Cheryl is an external examiner for both PGR and PGT degrees.

Cheryl is a committed advocate of STEM subjects to children and underrepresented groups and contributes regularly to outreach and communication activities at a local and national level. Cheryl is a member of the Microbiology Society’s Education and Outreach Network (EON) and is also an elected member of the Microbiology Society’s Building Communities committee.

Cheryl has provided expert comment for national and internal media outlets including: BBC News (TV and radio), The Economist, LadBible, NBC News and Australia’s ABC. She has written articles for The Conversation on Mpox, Lassa Fever and viral hepatitis, acting as an advisor on emerging viral threats to human health

Cheryl holds a senior fellowship with Advance HE and enjoys developing educational resources and contributing to curriculum development and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Cheryl is also a member of the HYMS Health Professions Education unit Cheryl contributes on a range of modules and across FHEQ levels. Cheryl teaches on the following programmes:

BSc. (Hons.) Biomedical Science

•Clinical Microbiology and Immunology (Module lead)

•Advanced Microbiology (Module lead)

•Skills for Biomedical and Forensic Science students

•Professional Skills for Biomedical and Forensic Science students

•Independent Research Projects [40 credits]

BSc. (Hons.) Biochemistry

•Concepts in Pharmacology

MSc. Biomedical Sciences

•Infection and Immunity

•Current topics in Biomedical Science

MSc. Pharmacology and Drug Development

•Foundations of Pharmacology

MB BS programme (HYMS)

•Scholarship and special interest programme

Recent outputs

View more outputs

Journal Article

A sample-to-answer COVID-19 diagnostic device based on immiscible filtration and CRISPR-Cas12a-assisted detection

Ngamsom, B., Iles, A., Kamita, M., Kimani, R., Wakaba, P., Rodriguez-Mateos, P., Mungai, M., Dyer, C. E., Walter, C., Gitaka, J., & Pamme, N. (2022). A sample-to-answer COVID-19 diagnostic device based on immiscible filtration and CRISPR-Cas12a-assisted detection. Talanta Open, 6, Article 100166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.talo.2022.100166

A lab-on-a-chip platform for integrated extraction and detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in resource-limited settings

Rodriguez-Mateos, P., Ngamsom, B., Walter, C., Dyer, C. E., Gitaka, J., Iles, A., & Pamme, N. (2021). A lab-on-a-chip platform for integrated extraction and detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in resource-limited settings. Analytica Chimica Acta, 1177, Article 338758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aca.2021.338758

Release of infectious hepatitis C virus from huh7 cells occurs via a trans-golgi network-to-endosome pathway independent of very-low-density lipoprotein secretion

Mankouri, J., Walter, C., Stewart, H., Bentham, M., Park, W. S., Heo, W. D., Fukuda, M., Griffin, S., & Harris, M. (2016). Release of infectious hepatitis C virus from huh7 cells occurs via a trans-golgi network-to-endosome pathway independent of very-low-density lipoprotein secretion. Journal of virology, 90(16), 7159-7170. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00826-16

Research interests

Cheryl completed post-doctoral research on significant human pathogens (HCV) and emerging viral threats (Bunyaviruses). Following on from these experiences and building on her expertise, Cheryl continues to drive virology research at Hull, investigating mechanisms of viral assembly and egress and establishing screening pipelines for molecules with antiviral or virucidal activity. Cheryl has over 10 years’ experience of supervising postgraduate research students and collaborates with academic and industrial researchers both locally and nationally

Co-investigator

Project

Funder

Grant

Started

Status

Project

Vice Chancellor PhD Scholarship - Identification of host cell factors involved in Gene Therapy production

Funder

University of Hull

Grant

£0.00

Started

16 September 2024

Status

Ongoing

Project

Development of point-of-care and wearable sensors for Hepatitis C diagnostics

Funder

British Council

Grant

£75,000.00

Started

1 September 2020

Status

Complete

Consultancy/Industry advisory role

Consultant for RB Global Scientific Community (GSec)

2021 - 2023

External examiner role

External Examiner for University of Nottingham - MSc. Microbiology and Immunology

2023

External examiner for PhD theses for University of Leeds

2020

External examiner for MRes degrees for the University of Leeds

2018

Journal peer reviewer

Peer reviewer for Microbiology Access

2024

Peer reviewer for Journal of BIological Education

2023

Peer reviewer for Archives of Virology

2016

Membership/Fellowship of professional body

Senior Fellow of Advance HE

2022

Fellow of the Institute for Biomedical Science (FIBMS)

2020

Scholarship role

Member of HYMS HPEU

2022

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