About the Guest Editor

**Dr. Joanna Parish** completed her Ph.D. at the University of Bristol in 2002, where she elucidated the mechanism of the induction of apoptosis by the HPV E2 protein under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Gaston. Following her Ph.D. studies, she moved to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA, to work with Professor Elliot Androphy. During this time, Joanna continued her study of the papillomavirus E2 protein and discovered several novel virus–host interactions including an interaction with the cellular DNA helicase ChlR1. Her work elegantly demonstrated that ChlR1 is required for the maintenance and persistence of papillomavirus by tethering viral genomes to cellular chromatin during mitosis and was published

in Molecular Cell. In 2007, Joanna was awarded a highly competitive Royal Society University Research Fellowship and returned to the UK to establish her independent research group at the University of St Andrews. Joanna was recruited to the University of Birmingham, UK, in 2012 and is Group Leader of the HPV Persistence Group. Joanna is a passionate mentor of early career researchers and, as an elected member of the Microbiology Society Virus Division, continues to promote virology on the national and international stage.

Dr. Parish's research is currently focused on the molecular biology of HPV persistence and the study of virus–host interactions that are important for transcriptional control and persistence of HPV and other small DNA viruses. Her recent research has identified an essential role for the host transcription factor CTCF in the control of differentiation-dependent virus gene expression and she continues to address long-standing questions about HPV gene expression control and replication using novel and state-of-the-art technologies.
