A/Prof. Sylvie Alonso
Associate Professor & Co-Chair Infectious Diseases Translational Research Programme; Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
Deputy Director Life Sciences Institute; Immunology programme.
Lead Vaccines & Therapeutics Co-Op, Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Communicable Disease Agency (CDA), Singapore.
Tel: +65-6516-3541
Email: micas@nus.edu.sg

What are your present research interests?

We study host-RNA virus interactions, in vivo disease modeling and viral determinants of fitness and virulence. Current research projects focus on dengue, zika and enteroviruses. We also pursue the development of a dendritic cell–targeting vaccine delivery platform.

Do you have a distinctive viewpoint to your research?

My approach to research is to first establish strong phenotypes in clinically relevant in vitro or in vivo infection models before dissecting the molecular mechanisms involved. My research philosophy is based on the premise that teamwork and collaboration are very often more productive and impactful than single-minded approaches.

What do you see as your future research directions?

The trajectory of my research is to translate our findings into novel treatment options. This can be achieved through close collaboration with bioengineers and clinicians.

Does your laboratory have a particularly strong research expertise?

GGreat efforts have been devoted to developing clinically relevant mouse models of infection. These models have attracted many collaborations and partnership with academic and private sectors both locally and internationally. We have also recently demonstrated the promising potential of the Clec9A-targeting vaccine delivery platform to fight influenza and coronaviruses.

Recent Publications

1. Idris F, Ting DHR, Tan ETX, Wan C, Chan KR, Benke PI, Marzinek JK, Copping JM, Li QH, Walsh I, Allison JR, Bond PJ,Torta F, Nguyen-Khuong T, Alonso S (2025). Glycans on Non-Structural Protein 1 Prevent Premature T-cell Mediated Dengue Virus Clearance. EMBO Mol. Med. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44321-025-00311-6
2. Cheang YZN, Tan KS, Tan PS, Purushotorma K, Yap MC, Tullett MK, Chua YLB, Yeoh YYA, Tan QHC, Qian X, Chen H, Tay JWD, Caminschi I, Tan YJ, Macary PA, Tan CW, Lahoud MH, and Alonso S (2024). Single shot dendritic cell targeting SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate induces broad, durable and protective systemic and mucosal immune responses in mice. Mol Ther doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.05.00
3. Chooi WH, Winanto, Zeng Y, Lee YPC, Lim ZQ, Gautam P, Chu JJH, Loh YH, Alonso S*, Ng SY* (2024). Enterovirus-A71 Preferentially Infects and Replicates in Human Motor Neurons, Inducing Neurodegeneration by Ferroptosis. Emerg. Microbes & Infect. Jul 17:2382235. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2382235. *co-corresponding
4. Ng QY, Mahendran V, Lim ZQ, Tan HYJ, Wong JFJ, Chu JHJ, Chow VTK, Sze NSK, Alonso S. (2024). Enterovirus-A71 exploits Rab11 to recruit chaperones for virus morphogenesis. J. Biomed. Sci. 31:65 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12929-024-01053-2
5. Putri GN, Gudla CS, Singh M, Ng CH, Idris FFH, Oo Y, Tan JHY, Wong JFJ, Chu JJH, Selvam V, Selvaraj SS, Shandil RK, Narayanan S*, Alonso S* (2023). Expanding the anti-flaviviral arsenal: Discovery of a baicalein-derived Compound with potent activity against DENV and ZIKV. Antiviral Res. 220:105739.
6. Kavishna R, Kang TY, Vacca M, Chua YL, Park HY, TAN PS, Chow VTK, Lahoud M, Alonso S (2022). A Single Shot Vaccine Approach for the Universal Influenza A Vaccine Candidate M2e- Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 119 (13) e2025607119 doi 10.1073/pnas.2025607119
7. Foo J, Bellot G, Pervaiz S, S Alonso (2022). Mitochondria-mediated oxidative stress during viral infection. Trends in Microbiology Jan18:S0966-842X(21)00318-8 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2021.12.01
8. Lim ZQ, Ng QY, OO Y, Chu JJH, Ng SY, Sze SK, Alonso S (2021). Enterovirus-A71 exploits peripherin and Rac1 to invade the central nervous system. EMBO Rep 22(6):e51777. doi: 10.15252/embr.202051777
9. Lee PX, Ting DHR, Boey CPH, Tan ETX, Chia JZH, Idris F, Oo Y, Ong LC, Chua YL, Hapuarachchi C, Ng LC, Alonso S (2020). Relative contribution of non-structural protein 1 in dengue pathogenesis. J. Exp. Med. 217(9):e20191548. doi:10.1084/jem.20191548.