Catherine L. Murray

B.Sc., McGill University
Some Assembly Required: Studies of Flaviviridae Capsid Proteins
presented by Charles M. Rice

Catherine Murray was born in Windsor, England, and although her family was based in Canada, she spent significant periods of her childhood living in exotic venues like Papua New Guinea and Thailand. These early experiences peaked Catherine’s interest in diseases in the developing world, and virology in particular. Catherine did her undergraduate work at McGill University, graduating with honors in microbiology and immunology and garnering a long list of awards for her remarkable scholastic achievements. In addition to her courses, Catherine worked in two different virology labs, gaining experience studying herpes simplex virus and measles virus. She entered the Rockefeller University Ph.D. program and was the second student to join my lab shortly after our arrival in New York. During her thesis work, Catherine tackled three different projects on two viruses. For the animal pestivirus, bovine viral diarrhea virus, she showed that viral proteins required for replication of the viral RNA are also intimately involved in the assembly of infectious viral progeny. She followed up this work with biochemical and genetic studies on the core proteins of bovine viral diarrhea virus and hepatitis C virus. These small, highly basic proteins bind and package the viral genomic RNA. Catherine’s studies have provided the first detailed description of the core protein features that are important for infectious virus production.

Science aside, Catherine, nicknamed “Cat,” was the founding Canadian in the lab and bore the brunt of a barrage of Canada jokes. Unfazed, she more than held her own demolishing adversaries with her creative and quick intellect. Catherine plans to continue in biomedical science, perhaps by merging her scientific training with her outstanding writing skills. I am sure she will succeed brilliantly at whatever she undertakes.