Host Responses to Viral Infection: Differential outcomes of viral infections
Lead Research Organisation:
THE PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
Several viruses studied at The Pirbright Institute infect more than one animal species. This applies for example to FMDV affecting pigs sheep and cattle; or BTV that replicates in sheep and cattle. Frequently species show differences in disease manifestation and pathology when infected by the same virus. For example the same FMDV strain can be mild in sheep but highly virulent in pigs. The underlying mechanisms for these differences are poorly understood. In this project we will investigate in detail innate and adaptive immune responses and compare them between species infected with the same virus. Immune responses will be investigated by different omics technologies and fed into in-silico models created in collaboration with the University of Surrey (UoS). For this work data sets from previous ISP and externally funded projects will be used but also from new studies performed in the current funding cycle. In these new experiments state-of-the-art technologies will be applied for dissection of immune responses. This will comprise FMDV with sheep and pigs performing detailed analyses of the innate immune response by transcriptomics and studies of involved cell types and their activation by flow cytometry. Subsequently adaptive immune responses will be investigated with a focus on B cell activation and antibody characterisation (epitope recognition avidity function). The same approach will be applied to BTV comparing sheep and cattle. To incorporate underlying genetic factors already identified and new SNPs for immune-related genes in pigs and cattle will be investigated making use of animal studies within this topic but also previous genome wide association studies data. Next to these analyses in pigs and cattle MDV will be studied in chickens. In the past different congenic chicken lines were developed that showed either resistance or different degrees of susceptibility to MDV. PacBio sequencing will be performed to identify genome sequences related to disease outcomes. These analyses may ultimately allow the breeding of MDV resistant chickens. Data from genomic studies will also feed into the in-silico models developed with UoS.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
- THE PIRBRIGHT INSTITUTE (Lead Research Organisation)
- Animal and Plant Health Agency (Collaboration)
- UK HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY (Collaboration)
- Friedrich Loeffler Institute (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SURREY (Collaboration)
- Aston University (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX (Collaboration)
- DIAMOND LIGHT SOURCE (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (Collaboration)
- IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EXETER (Collaboration)
- Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) (Collaboration)
- Royal Veterinary College (RVC) (Collaboration)
- Moy Park (Collaboration)
- University of Southampton (Collaboration)
Publications
Bilotti K
(2024)
One-pot Golden Gate Assembly of an avian infectious bronchitis virus reverse genetics system.
in PloS one
Bodman-Harris O
(2024)
Approaches to Enhance the Potency of Vaccines in Chickens.
in Vaccines
Dascalu S
(2024)
Immunisation of chickens with inactivated and/or infectious H9N2 avian influenza virus leads to differential immune B-cell repertoire development
in Frontiers in Immunology
Downing T
(2023)
A primer on correlation-based dimension reduction methods for multi-omics analysis.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Franzoni G
(2024)
Expression of key immune genes in polarized porcine monocyte-derived macrophage subsets.
in Veterinary immunology and immunopathology
GuimerĂ Busquets M
(2023)
Visualisation of Bluetongue Virus in the Salivary Apparatus of Culicoides Biting Midges Highlights the Accessory Glands as a Primary Arboviral Infection Site
in Biological Procedures Online
Herzog C
(2024)
Empirical and model-based evidence for a negligible role of cattle in peste des petits ruminants virus transmission and eradication
in Communications Biology
Maze EA
(2024)
Serological cross-reactivity between Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus and Nairobi sheep disease virus glycoprotein C.
in Frontiers in immunology
Moorton M
(2024)
Investigation of activation-induced markers (AIM) in porcine T cells by flow cytometry
in Frontiers in Veterinary Science
| Description | OmicsLearning coordinator |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | We have a series of regular courses spanning bioinformatics, genomics, biostatistics, related application areas such as flow cytometry analysis, bioimage analysis and data management (collectively known as "OmicsLearning"). For example, in the 12 months April 2023 to March 2024, we ran 20 OmicsLearning courses (Introduction to R twice, Introduction to Unix twice, Introduction to Python, Using R Packages, Using Python Packages, Data Visualisation, Read Library QC, Genome Assembly, Read Mapping, Mutation Detection, Transcriptomics, Phylogenomics, Bioimage Analysis, Antibody Diversity, Describing Statistical Data, Hypothesis Testing, Probability, Linear Models). These were attended by 72 people, who attended an average of 2.25 courses each. Many participants have integrated bioinformatic and computational approaches into their work as a result, with resulting output seen in research reports, papers, grant applications and the capacity to analyse high-throughput data themselves. The OmicsLearning courses help achieve the BBSRC Institute Strategy goal of "strengthening capability and specialist training of the UK bioscience workforce, from early career researchers, through to technical specialists and research leaders". Of four staff members awarded OmicsLearning awards in 2023, two have gone on to pursue PhDs involving computational analyses, and the other two have moved into roles linked to bioinformatics, one of which was a Career Development Fellowship. In survey response, 55% of respondents say they use what they learned in these courses "often" or "all the time"; 88% say they have used what they learned in the courses; and 50% say they have used these new skills during searches for a new role internally or externally. |
| Description | WHO and UKHSA led collaborative research consortium (CORC) on OROV - session chair and participant |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | The initial meeting has already led to changes in practices on the basis of what was discussed and new collaborations formed. One example would be the standardisation of diagnostic methods with a direct impact on public well-being and effectiveness of public service delivery. |
| Description | WHO led effort to prioritize diseases of epidemic and pandemic threat - member of Paramyxovirus expert group |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) - Tropical Infectious Disease Consortium: Expanding and Accelerating Product Development |
| Amount | £45,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | IAA21109 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2025 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Title | Bayesian networks for multi-variate analysis of mid-size biological datasets. |
| Description | Elucidation of interactions in cohort datasets via the use of Bayesian networks. These include a number of innovations in improving interpretability by clinician and biologists, who are not experts in statistical modeling. Currently expanding the code base and looking at applications within research in livestock health, such as scRNA-seq experiments of the pig immune system. |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Development of explainable AI models of a variety of cancers, that lead to better understanding of the interactions of driver events in cancer. |
| URL | https://stoics.org.uk/~nicos/sware/gbn/ |
| Title | Bio_db a collection of biological, high quality databases within logic programming. |
| Description | Provides a convenient method for importing a large number of high quality biological databases to the logic programming environment of SWI-Prolog. These include protein-protein interactions database STRING, many EMBL and NCBI genomic information databases. Initially these were across human with later additions on mouse. During the past year, and due to the livestock focus in the institute, we have added information for chicken and pig. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Allows easier data analytics of biological datasets within the classical AI paradigm of logic programming. The databases, in effect, create a large graph of knowledge, which in addition to be useful in analytics, are also an interesting environment for experimenting with large graph algorithms. |
| URL | https://stoics.org.uk/~nicos/sware/bio_db/ |
| Description | Cambridge |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative research on epitope display systems and use of functional genetic screens. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative research on epitope display systems and use of functional genetic screens. |
| Impact | Collaborative research on epitope display systems and use of functional genetic screens. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Construction of Bayesian networks from GenePy matrices. |
| Organisation | University of Southampton |
| Department | Southampton Medical School |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Machine learning of Bayesian Networks for IBD matrices inscribing GenePy scores. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of their IBD and control datasets which are construed of GenePy matrices, which provide mutational load of genes and regions. Interpretation of the constructed networks. |
| Impact | (discipline Medicine) Improved understanding of mutational burden patterns in the pathogenesis of IBD. (discipline Artificial Intelligence) Communication clues and visual annotation of explainable structured statistical models (Bayesian Networks) for biomedical data. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Effects of co-infections on Marek's disease in poultry, and development of novel recombinant Marek's disease virus vector vaccines |
| Organisation | Moy Park |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | This is a joint BBSRC funded project on investigation "Effects of co-infections on Marek's disease in poultry, and development of novel recombinant Marek's disease virus vector vaccines" between Pirbright, Moy Park and Slate Hall Veterinary Practice. Pirbright team works on the detailed investigation of prevalence of naturally occurring MDV-2 (Marek's disease virus serotype 2) infection in the field in UK; isolation and characterisation of MDV-2 field strains and development of novel MDV-2-based recombinant vaccine MDV2-IBD-ND which will protect chickens against Marek's disease, infectious bursal disease and Newcastle disease. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Moy Park will collect the field samples and investigate the effect of MDV-2 on flock productivity and disease. |
| Impact | Too early |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Infection of pigs with FMDV by intraoropharyngeal inoculation |
| Organisation | Friedrich Loeffler Institute |
| Department | Federal Research Institute for Animal Health |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Intraoropharyngeal (IOP) inoculation of pigs with FMDV is considered as a route of infection close to field conditions. We have tried to establish this route of infection in collaboration with colleagues from the Friedrich-Loeffler Institute (FLI) in Germany. We shared our information on our housing and experimental condtions with colleagues at the FLI. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Reciprocally, FLI colleagues shared information on their attempts to establish this infection route. |
| Impact | A joint manuscript on the challenges of FMMDV IOP infection in pigs is in preparation. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Joint PhD project on "Exploring ultrastructural features of the virus-host interactions of MDV" |
| Organisation | Diamond Light Source |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Pirbright team provided expertise on MDV biology part of the project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Diamond team provided expertise on using the state-of-the-art tools to gain structural biology insights into the distinct features of MDV-host cell interactions. |
| Impact | No outputs yet. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Joint PhD project on "Using Marek's Disease Virus to understand the RNA world of alphaherpesviruses" |
| Organisation | University of Surrey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Surrey team has provided expertise on characterization of Marek's disease virus encoded vhs protein function in vitro. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Pirbright team has provided expertise in making the mutant virus of vhs deleted MDV and study the role of vhs in the context of infection in vitro and in vivo. |
| Impact | The student Sophie Cutts has abstract accepted for oral presentation in both Microbiology Society Annual Conference 2024 to be held in Edinburgh 8-11 April and 14th International Symposium on Marek's Disease and Avian Herpesvirus to be held at St. Louis, USA from 12th-14th July, 2024. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Population genetics of myeloma |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Department | Division of Immunology and Inflammation |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Statistical analysis and machine learning on large publicly available datasets. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Expert knowledge of myeloma biology and bioinformatics management and first phase analytics of the datasets. |
| Impact | There are currently no published outputs. There are 3 disciplines involved: medicine (biology of Myeloma, Prof Karadimitris) AI (machine learning, Dr Angelopoulos) and bioinformatics (data management and standard analyses, Dr Huang, bioinformatician with Prof Karadimitris). |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Precision cut tissue slices to study early immune responses and viral replication |
| Organisation | Royal Veterinary College (RVC) |
| Department | Pathobiology and Population Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Precision cut tissue slices (PCTS) from porcine lymph nodes and tonsils are prepared with support from the collaborators at RVC, transported to Pirbright and infected with either African swine fever virus (ASFV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) or foot and mouth disease virus (FMDV). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborators at the RVC provide the infrastructure to prepare PCTS and provide training on the tissue slicing process. |
| Impact | Aim of the project is to establish methodology and workflow to infect cells types permissive for these viruses and measure the innate immune response in the local tissue microenvironment. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Stephen Graham |
| Organisation | University of Cambridge |
| Department | Department of Pathology |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Functional assays of virus-host interactions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Structural biology and biophysical assays of virus-host protein-protein interactions. |
| Impact | Determining the molecular determinants of virus-host interactions underpinning the host preferences of capripoxviruses. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Understanding the genetic resistant to Marek's disease |
| Organisation | University of Surrey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have provided the sequencing data of resistant and susceptible inbred chicken lines and crosses to be analyzed using AI for understanding the genetic resistant to Marek's disease. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators contribution is to use AI for analysis to explore the determinants associated with the distinct resistance phenotype. |
| Impact | No output yet. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Use of AI to understand virus diversity |
| Organisation | Aston University |
| Department | Computer Science |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have provided high quality data to be used to explore relationships between virus diversity and outcomes of infection. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The collaborators have utilized a t-SNE approach to increase the likelihood of identifying particular mutations that are associated with outcomes of viral infections. Their contribution is the ability to analyse and identify the patterns in viral mutations that are biologically important. |
| Impact | Grant Submission to BBSRC - Uncovering the role of viral diversity in sustaining endemic virus transmission. Grant Submission to NIH - Using lab-in-the-loop machine learning to model alphavirus neuroinvasion |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | Animal and Plant Health Agency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | UK Health Security Agency |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | University of Exeter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | University of Surrey |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Wessex One Health (WOH) Doctoral Landscape Award |
| Organisation | University of Sussex |
| Department | Brighton and Sussex Medical School |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | TD is co-lead from the Pirbright Institute in this multi-partner award led by the University of Surrey. Nicolas Locker is the official lead from the Pirbright Institute. Yvonne Walsh from the Pirbright Institute provides academic and student support. The Pirbright Communications teams assist with advertisements and communications. |
| Collaborator Contribution | This BBSRC-funded doctoral programme will train students in interdisciplinary approaches to Infection Biosciences across all classes of pathogens, to combat existing and future disease threats to human and animal health, including emerging infections, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance and food insecurity. Wessex One Health (WOH) brings together the expertise of our three university partners and four major UK institutes with national capability for working on high consequence pathogens, to provide a broad training and research experience for students, with the following highlights: -Cross-institutional supervisory teams -Opportunities to train at high containment -Cohort training in genomics, bioinformatics, applied AI -Cohort-building activities across all partners -Opportunities for studentships working with industry (CASE) -Wide range of short industrial placement opportunities. The Partners -University of Surrey (Guildford) -University of Sussex, Including Brighton and Sussex Medical School (Brighton) -University of Exeter, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology -The Pirbright Institute (Woking, Surrey) -Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) (Weybridge, Surrey), -UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) (Porton Down, Wiltshire or Colindale, London) -Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl) (Porton Down, Wiltshire) |
| Impact | Outcomes so far: -Design of 20 collaborative PhD projects between the Pirbright Institute with the partners (APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex). -Closer links between the Pirbright Insitute and the APHA, DSTL, UKHSA, University of Surrey, University of Exeter, University of Sussex in terms of building the DLA, planning training and discussing facilities (such as containment). The awards runs 2025-2033. |
| Start Year | 2024 |
| Description | Co-chairing a session at Pandemic Science Institute inaugural meeting in Oxford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Co-chaired a session on vaccines as part of the PSI's first international meeting in 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.psi.ox.ac.uk/ |
| Description | Interview on Radio Stoke |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussed the likelihood of cold viruses increasing and helping people understand how viruses evolve. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Invited seminar at KEMRI, Kilifi, Kenya (online) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar about coronavirus spillover, prediction and understanding the generalism of some zoonotic pathogens. There were many questions afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Invited seminar at Roslin Institute |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Invited seminar about coronavirus spillover, prediction and understanding the generalism of some zoonotic pathogens. There were many questions afterwards and I polled the audience about their views and whether they had changed on the subject before and after the seminar. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Mental Health First Aid and Mind - Time to Talk Day 2024 (Pirbright) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Organised a stand that introduced the work of the Mental Health First Aiders at the Pirbright Institute in connection with the Mind - Time to Talk Day 2024. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/time-to-talk-day-2024/ |
| Description | Mental Health First Aid and Mind - Time to talk day 2025 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Offering students and staff the opportunity to talk with the aim of fostering mental health and culture at Pirbright. Information provided about who the mental health first aiders at the institute are and what their role is. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Microbiology Society Annual Conference (Birmingham) - Poster presentation: Assessing the effect of inter-isolate variation on the function of RVFV virulence determinants. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Poster presentation at an international conference. The event included networking opportunities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Organisation and attendance at UK-International Coronavirus Network conferences in Slovenia and Belfast |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | The UK-ICN runs networking meetings for coronavirus researchers. The Belfast meeting focused on animal coronaviruses and a GAP analyis in this area led by EU based teams at STAR-IDAZ. The Slovenia meeting was the AGM and had a satellite meeting on Big Data with support from CEFAS and Zoetis for both conferences. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://uk-icn.co.uk/ |
| Description | Oropouche virus interest group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I established an Oropouche virus interest group with members from the Americas, the UK and mainland Europe to discuss priority areas for research and joint funding applications. The group meets online every three months. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Pirbright Family Day (Pirbright) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Organised and presented at stands that displayed science activities in the research group, the high containment community and within science services (CCG CL3 Virology; insectaries). Informed public about science undertaken at the Institute. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Pirbright Village Fair 2024 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This annual event, organised by Pirbright Parish Council and St. Michael & All Angels Church and hosted on the village green, offered an ideal occasion for the Institute to foster connections with the local community and ignite their interest in cutting-edge scientific research. The Institute's stall featured various engaging activities. Attendees, young and old had the opportunity to shake and reassemble virus models, swab Henrietta the hen to determine her health status, observe Culicoides nubeculosus midges in a display net, and examine midge larvae and pupae under a microscope for a closer inspection. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Presentation at RIVR: "Rift Valley fever virus genotype - phenotype relationships" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the annual RIVR (Recently independent virology researcher) meeting, which I am co-organising. This is to establish collaborations between recently appointed PIs and to foster career growth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | RIVR (Recently Independent Virology Researchers) Annual Meeting (Liverpool) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented a science talk to other researcher on a national level. The event included networking activities. Future collaborations have been planned. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Radio Derby Interview |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Discussion on COVID and Flu pressures |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | Radio interview on COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview with Radio Stoke on the cold increase and the virus implications of this. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Radio interview on COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Discussion with Radio Stoke on the new variant of COVID-19 and the implications for their listeners. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Radio interview regarding COVID-19 new variant |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio Derby asked me on to discuss the new variant of COVID and how it was impacting on the population or might impact on the population. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Radio interview regarding increase in common cold |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Radio Derby asked me on to discuss the rise in cold cases and how this was a consequence of the pandemic, or not. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Radio interview with 5live about COVID-19 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | I was asked to discuss the rise in cases in COVID-19 pertaining to a new variant and how it might impact the UK, and also discuss some of the details highlighted in the covid enquiry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Round table discussion on career development (University of Sussex) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Discussed career options and progression with postgraduates thinking about academic careers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Showcase for Pirbright-Diamond collaboration in virus imaging |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Researchers from The Pirbright Institute, the University of Oxford's Division of Structural Biology and Diamond Light Source have showcased their expertise at the Harwell Open Day, which highlights UK science and innovation to the public. Staged for the first time in eight years, the event gave the public behind-the-scenes insight into leading-edge research and the chance to meet scientists and technicians who deliver discoveries that make the news. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.pirbright.ac.uk/news/showcase-pirbright-diamond-collaboration-virus-imaging |
| Description | Southern England Virology Network meeting (Animal and Plant Health Agency, Weybridge) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented a science talk to researchers from research organisations (government and academia) in South England. The event also included networking activities. Future meetings have been organised. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Talk on ASF subunit vaccines at 'Human and Veterinary Vaccinology' course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk on the challenges of developing vaccines against African swine fever virus as part of the Talk on ASF subunit vaccines at 'Human and Veterinary Vaccinology' course organised by the Jenner Institute |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Talk on Asfarvaridae at Virologie Fondamentale MSc course |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of African swine fever virus to MSc students as part of the Pasteur Institute's virology course |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |