Innate Immunity and Host Species Barriers
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: UNLISTED
Abstract
Innate Immunity and Host Species Barrier
Prof Massimo Palmarini and Dr Sam Wilson, Lead Investigators, with Dr Robert Gifford as a co-investigator and in collaboration with Prof James Neil, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR), University of GlasgowViral diseases are often in the news because of their ability to suddenly cause an 'outbreak' in human populations. Often this is due to the ability of a virus from animals to 'jump' into humans and start causing disease. Currently, we don't fully understand how viruses 'jump' from one species to another, which hinders our ability to predict which viruses could threaten people in the future.
Humans and the animals we share our environment with have all been plagued by viral diseases (some of which are life-threatening) for millions of years. To resist infection, animals have evolved an arsenal of different antiviral defences and every animal has evolved a unique set of these defences. Importantly, these defences can sometimes stop a virus from 'jumping' into a new species.
By mapping the antiviral defences in humans and selected domestic and wild animals (like bats and pigs) we will catalogue the diversity of these defences in humans and 'animal reservoirs' of viral diseases. We will use this information to measure the ability of each individual defence to inhibit viruses that threaten human populations. We hope to identify the specific genes that leave us vulnerable to or protect us from the viral diseases circulating in animal populations.
Prof Massimo Palmarini and Dr Sam Wilson, Lead Investigators, with Dr Robert Gifford as a co-investigator and in collaboration with Prof James Neil, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR), University of GlasgowViral diseases are often in the news because of their ability to suddenly cause an 'outbreak' in human populations. Often this is due to the ability of a virus from animals to 'jump' into humans and start causing disease. Currently, we don't fully understand how viruses 'jump' from one species to another, which hinders our ability to predict which viruses could threaten people in the future.
Humans and the animals we share our environment with have all been plagued by viral diseases (some of which are life-threatening) for millions of years. To resist infection, animals have evolved an arsenal of different antiviral defences and every animal has evolved a unique set of these defences. Importantly, these defences can sometimes stop a virus from 'jumping' into a new species.
By mapping the antiviral defences in humans and selected domestic and wild animals (like bats and pigs) we will catalogue the diversity of these defences in humans and 'animal reservoirs' of viral diseases. We will use this information to measure the ability of each individual defence to inhibit viruses that threaten human populations. We hope to identify the specific genes that leave us vulnerable to or protect us from the viral diseases circulating in animal populations.
Technical Summary
In vertebrates, the interferon (IFN) response is the first line of defence against viruses, stimulating the production of diverse antiviral proteins encoded by hundreds of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs). These host defences are engaged in continuous evolutionary conflicts with viruses, which have evolved a variety of evasive counterstrategies. Most viruses are only able to efficiently infect and replicate within a limited set of species, and multiple lines of evidence indicate that the IFN response plays a key role in limiting cross-species transmission. Sometimes, however, viruses do succeed in “jumping” from one species to another - indicating that host innate defences have been overcome. Since most emerging viruses (e.g. Ebola virus, coronaviruses, Nipah virus etc.) persist in animal reservoirs, it is vital to understand the barriers that normally prevent cross-species transmission. In this programme, we will first characterise the ISGs of a variety of animal species, including reservoirs of zoonotic infections. We will then examine a range of important human pathogens (e.g. Ebola virus, hepatitis C, Dengue and others) in vitro and in silico to (i) define patterns of antiviral restriction by “homologous” and “heterologous” ISGs and (ii) identify important host and viral determinants of cross-species transmission. We will develop experimental systems that will allow us to dissect the evolutionary history of antiviral genes, and explore the pathways and constraints to the evolution of viral counterstrategies. Altogether, these data will provide a powerful and flexible system for (i) constructing predictive models (a “zoonotic index”) to assess the risk of future cross-species transmission events and (ii) identifying novel antiviral genes.
Organisations
Publications
Garcia-Moreno M
(2018)
Unconventional RNA-binding proteins step into the virus-host battlefront.
in Wiley interdisciplinary reviews. RNA
Garcia-Moreno M
(2019)
System-wide Profiling of RNA-Binding Proteins Uncovers Key Regulators of Virus Infection.
in Molecular cell
Gifford R
(2018)
Nomenclature for endogenous retrovirus (ERV) loci
in Retrovirology
Gouzil J
(2017)
Nonstructural Protein NSs of Schmallenberg Virus Is Targeted to the Nucleolus and Induces Nucleolar Disorganization.
in Journal of virology
Guimerà Busquets M
(2021)
An Early Block in the Replication of the Atypical Bluetongue Virus Serotype 26 in Culicoides Cells Is Determined by Its Capsid Proteins.
in Viruses
Halo JV
(2019)
Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids.
in Retrovirology
Related Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MC_UU_12014/7 | 30/04/2013 | 30/03/2023 | £2,823,000 | ||
MC_UU_12014/8 | Transfer | MC_UU_12014/7 | 30/04/2013 | 30/03/2023 | £4,034,000 |
MC_UU_12014/9 | Transfer | MC_UU_12014/8 | 31/03/2016 | 30/03/2023 | £1,436,000 |
MC_UU_12014/10 | Transfer | MC_UU_12014/9 | 31/03/2016 | 30/03/2023 | £2,955,000 |
MC_UU_12014/11 | Transfer | MC_UU_12014/10 | 31/03/2016 | 30/03/2023 | £570,000 |
Description | COVID-19: Screening of ReFRAME collection |
Amount | £211,811 (GBP) |
Funding ID | INV-016128 |
Organisation | Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United States |
Start | 03/2020 |
Description | Genotype to Phenotype Consortium |
Amount | £1,000,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 10/2022 |
Description | Identifying the Host and Viral Determinants of Coronavirus Emergence and Adaptation in Human Populations |
Amount | £612,024 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/V01157X/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2021 |
End | 06/2024 |
Description | VIRTACs - Protein Degradation as an Anti-Viral Strategy |
Amount | £402,635 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/V008404/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2021 |
End | 12/2024 |
Title | A Prenylated dsRNA Sensor Protects Against Severe COVID-19 |
Description | Underlying data from Wickenhagen et al., 2021. A Prenylated dsRNA Sensor Protects Against Severe COVID-19. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1178 |
Title | MOESM1 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 1: Table S1. Canine sample information for discovery of CfERV-Fc1(a) insertions. Information for the resequencing dataset of 101 canines used for CfERV-Fc1(a) insertion discovery. The sample identifier, sex, breed/species/population information and canine group is given per sample. Also provided are the Short Read Archive (SRA) sequence identifiers (SRR) matching the files downloaded and processed in this study, along with the PubMed identifier for the accompanying published study (if available) for each sample. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM1_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM1 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 1: Table S1. Canine sample information for discovery of CfERV-Fc1(a) insertions. Information for the resequencing dataset of 101 canines used for CfERV-Fc1(a) insertion discovery. The sample identifier, sex, breed/species/population information and canine group is given per sample. Also provided are the Short Read Archive (SRA) sequence identifiers (SRR) matching the files downloaded and processed in this study, along with the PubMed identifier for the accompanying published study (if available) for each sample. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM1_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM1 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 1: Table S1. MuERV-L loci identified in mouse genome assemblies. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM1_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM1 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 1: Table S1. MuERV-L loci identified in mouse genome assemblies. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM1_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM10 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 10: Table S7. Samples included in admixture analysis. Sample information for the 254 samples included in admixture analysis. Accompanying data columns provided for each sample match that of Additional file 1: Table S1. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM10_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous... |
Title | MOESM10 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 10: Table S7. Samples included in admixture analysis. Sample information for the 254 samples included in admixture analysis. Accompanying data columns provided for each sample match that of Additional file 1: Table S1. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM10_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous... |
Title | MOESM2 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 2. ancML sequence in FASTA format. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM2_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM2 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 2. ancML sequence in FASTA format. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM2_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM3 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 3: Table S2. Information for non-reference sites considered in analyses. The coordinates relative to CanFam3.1 are provided for each identified non-reference insertion. For each site, information pertaining to the insertion orientation, target site duplication (relative to the CanFam3.1 reference), detected insertion alleles (provirus, solo LTR), and element sequence is provided. Primer sequences are provided for validated sites. (A) Information for sequenced loci and validated sequences. (B) Information for loci with complete assembled insertion alleles. (C) Information for loci with partially assembled insertion alleles. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM3_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM3 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 3: Table S2. Information for non-reference sites considered in analyses. The coordinates relative to CanFam3.1 are provided for each identified non-reference insertion. For each site, information pertaining to the insertion orientation, target site duplication (relative to the CanFam3.1 reference), detected insertion alleles (provirus, solo LTR), and element sequence is provided. Primer sequences are provided for validated sites. (A) Information for sequenced loci and validated sequences. (B) Information for loci with complete assembled insertion alleles. (C) Information for loci with partially assembled insertion alleles. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM3_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM3 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 3: Table S2. ancML integration sites cloned from CHO gDNA. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM3_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM3 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 3: Table S2. ancML integration sites cloned from CHO gDNA. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM3_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM4 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 4: Table S3. Gene region information and GO ontology analyses. The coordinates for each reference and non-reference insertion are provided along with Ensembl gene models from dog (release #81) that are within window distances of 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100Â kb of the insertion. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM4_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM4 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 4: Table S3. Gene region information and GO ontology analyses. The coordinates for each reference and non-reference insertion are provided along with Ensembl gene models from dog (release #81) that are within window distances of 0, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100Â kb of the insertion. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM4_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM4 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 4: Table S3. Analysis for hypermutation in MuERV-L elements in the mouse genome. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM4_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM4 of Reconstruction of a replication-competent ancestral murine endogenous retrovirus-L |
Description | Additional file 4: Table S3. Analysis for hypermutation in MuERV-L elements in the mouse genome. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM4_of_Reconstruction_of_a_replication-competent_anc... |
Title | MOESM6 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 6: Table S4. Sample information for canid genotyping. Sample and data access information for the resequencing dataset of 332 canines genotyped at the discovered CfERV-Fc1(a) reference and non-reference insertions. Accompanying data descriptions provided for each sample match that of Additional file 1: Table S1 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM6_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM6 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 6: Table S4. Sample information for canid genotyping. Sample and data access information for the resequencing dataset of 332 canines genotyped at the discovered CfERV-Fc1(a) reference and non-reference insertions. Accompanying data descriptions provided for each sample match that of Additional file 1: Table S1 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM6_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM7 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 7: Table S5. Genotypes and inferred allele frequencies. Raw genotypes obtained across 332 resequenced samples for 56 non-reference and 89 reference insertions are provided in vcf format. Allele frequencies were calculated from raw genotypes per canid species or sub-population, as indicated above each column. Non-genotyped sites are noted with an â -â . |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM7_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM7 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 7: Table S5. Genotypes and inferred allele frequencies. Raw genotypes obtained across 332 resequenced samples for 56 non-reference and 89 reference insertions are provided in vcf format. Allele frequencies were calculated from raw genotypes per canid species or sub-population, as indicated above each column. Non-genotyped sites are noted with an â -â . |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM7_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM8 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 8: Table S6. LTR nucleotide alignment. LTR alignment for phylogenetic analysis using LTRs from a total of 19 proviruses and 142 solo LTRs, provided in fasta format. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM8_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | MOESM8 of Origin and recent expansion of an endogenous gammaretroviral lineage in domestic and wild canids |
Description | Additional file 8: Table S6. LTR nucleotide alignment. LTR alignment for phylogenetic analysis using LTRs from a total of 19 proviruses and 142 solo LTRs, provided in fasta format. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/MOESM8_of_Origin_and_recent_expansion_of_an_endogenous_... |
Title | The 'antiviral state' has shaped the CpG composition of the vertebrate interferome to avoid self-targeting |
Description | |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1159 |
Title | orthologous ISG clusters |
Description | In order to allow mining of our data by the wider research community, we created a web-based public interactive data server, accessible at http://isg.data.cvr.ac.uk. The server hosts a database containing the orthologous ISG clusters studied in this paper. This web tool allows users to search for and download orthologous clusters and the associated experimental results. The search may be based on various search criteria: 1.Search clusters by HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) gene name or Ensembl ID. 2.Select clusters based on the presence and expression characteristics in particular species. 3.Select clusters by presence or expression characteristics in a specific number of species |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Too early to report. |
URL | http://isg.data.cvr.ac.uk |
Title | Code for "The 'antiviral state' has shaped the CpG composition of the vertebrate interferome" |
Description | Code for the machine learning component of Shaw, Rihn, Mollentze, et al. (2021) "The 'antiviral state' has shaped the CpG composition of the vertebrate interferome". |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2021 |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/5036224 |
Description | 05/10/2021 - The Know Show Podcast - Alfredo Castello |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Discussing work from the Castello lab and emergence of RNA vaccines |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p0tFwZd-uE |
Description | 07/02/2022 - Publication Video - Alfredo Castello |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Video discussing latest paper determining differences between variants |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://youtu.be/t7Wlyrgctv0 |
Description | 08/03/2021 Suzannah Rinh International Womens Day Video |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Dr Suzannah Rihn encourages female academics to challenge gender equality by being confident about seeking promotion in STEM. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://twitter.com/UofGSoLS/status/1368975206342139905 |
Description | 10/1/20 - Laura McCoy Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this episode of Contagious Thinking Connor and Elihu are talking with Dr Laura McCoy about why study and continue to study broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV, and the role of B cell biology in HIV infection and vaccine responses. She also discusses her career so far, and gives advice to PhD and early career researchers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep10-laura-mccoy |
Description | 11/12/19 - Rune Hartmann Contagious Thinking Blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Today on the Contagious Thinking podcast, Douglas and Elena are joined by Professor Rune Hartmann from Aarhus University who tells us about his work on understanding type III interferons, their role in immunity and viral infection and their evolution. He also describes some of his work with fruit flies and has some great advice for young scientists. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep8-rune-hartmann |
Description | 12/11/19 - Carolina Lopez Contagious Thinking Blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this special episode for our Spanish speakers listeners, Mila and Elihu are talking with Carolina Lopez about how viruses interact with the immune system during infection. As viruses copy their genomes, a large number of defective copies are made. Carolina studies the different forms of a virus, including those with regular and defective copies of their genome, that are present in an infection and how these different forms interact with the infected cell and influence its function. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep5 |
Description | 12/3/19 - Adam Fletcher Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Dr Adam Fletcher, a fellow innate/intrinsic immunity enthusiast, like Greg. Adam (scholar.google.co.uk/citations?userpPEAAAAJ&hl=en), has led work on fantastic papers onto the detailed molecular mechanisms that our cells use to seek, destroy and ultimate block disease-causing viruses, like HIV, from infecting us. One example if the very recent paper in Cell Host & Microbe www.sciencedirect.com/science/articl31312818305456 (from which our cover image is from). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s2-ep6-adam-fletcher |
Description | 15/06/2021 - Podcast - Alfredo Castello |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Podcast dealing with an investigation, carried out by Alfredo Castelló at the University of Glasgow, on new antivirals. Specifically, they study how viral and cellular proteins interact . In order to replicate , the virus needs to "hijack" proteins from the cells, and in this sense , it seeks to develop drugs that interfere with this interaction . |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.rtve.es/play/audios/marca-espana/marca-espana-nuevas-estrategias-terapeuticas-contra-inf... |
Description | 15/08/2021 - Introductory video for project - Hollie French |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Introductory video about rabies bat surveillance |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://youtu.be/QNV6MuKdXlM |
Description | 15/1/20 Connor Bamford Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this episode, Jack Hirst and Andrew Burns (on his podcast debut) are joined by Contagious Thinking veteran and founder Connor Bamford, who is crossing to other side and telling us about his own research on a peculiar immune protein that seems to make Hepatitis C infections worse rather than better. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep11-connor-bamford |
Description | 16/10/19 - Juan Fontana Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | This is the third season of the refreshing virology podcast. In this episode, we're starting off with Dr Juan Fontana, a structural biologist from the University of Leeds. Juan speaks with fellow postdoc Connor Bamford, about his career so far in Virology, how cryoEM works, and how he uses this technique to study deadly human viruses. Connor Bamford |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep1-juan-fontana |
Description | 17/12/19 - Rachel Edgar Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Season 3 Episode 9: In this episode of Contagious Thinking Jack and Elena are talking with Dr Rachel Edgar about about her research investigating how the circadian clock of a host can affect viral infection, and how viruses can exploit our body clocks to aid their replication and spread. She also discusses her career so far, and gives advice to PhD and early career researchers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep9-rachel-edgar |
Description | 19/02/19 - Kenny Baillie Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | discussing sepsis, a major complication of infection (from bacteria AND viruses) which can lead to multiple organ failure and death. Following on from the first two episodes in this series, influenza virus in one such infection that can lead to sepsis. The only treatments for sepsis are indirect drugs that target the cause of infection - fine when good drugs are available, but this isn't the case for all pathogens. In this episode Connor and Jack are joined by Dr Kenny Baillie from the University of Edinburgh, who explains how it could be patients' own DNA which holds the key to targeting sepsis directly. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/season-2-episode-3-kenny-baillie |
Description | 19/3/19 - Marlene Dreux Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Connor's following on the theme of innate immunity started by Greg and Adam in the last two episodes and is joined by Dr Marlene Dreux, Team Leader in immunovirology at the Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (CIRI) in Lyon, France. Marlene combines cell biology, viruses and immunity to find out how our cells sense viral infections, like dengue, chikungunya and hepatitis C virus, to keep us safe. The Dreux lab very recently published a study identifying a new cell communication structure, the 'interferogenic synapse' that acts to block viral infection |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s2-ep7-marlene-dreux |
Description | 20/11/19 - Paul Lehner Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | HUSH-ing HIV - A Podcast with Professor Paul Lehner In this episode of Contagious Thinking Jack and Arthur are talking with Professor Paul Lehner about HIV and silencing of these viruses by the newly discovered HUSH complex. Paul talks about his career so far and his research on HIV. He further explains how he and colleagues discovered the HUSH complex and its role in silencing viruses like HIV. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep6-paul-lehner |
Description | 21/01/2021 - Webinar with Nature - Alfredo Castello |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Collaboration with BMG Labtech discussed in Nature Webcast |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.nature.com/webcasts/event/when-viral-rna-met-the-host-cell-the-importance-of-cellular-rn... |
Description | 22/1/20 Diane Griffin Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | n this episode we're extremely lucky to be welcoming Professor Diane Griffin, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of public health who is also the vice-president of the US National Academy of Sciences (www.nasonline.org/member-directoryers/3007695.html). Diane - who is an MD/PhD - is a pioneering expert in how viruses cause disease, focusing on those viruses that infect your brain (like measles), and viruses spread by insects (like alphaviruses, such as Sindbis and chikunungya viruses). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep11-diane-griffin |
Description | 23/10/19 - Ann Palmenberg Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Professor Ann Palmenberg from the University of Wisconsin-Madison talking to us about her journey through academia as a virologist, her views on vaccines and women in science. Featuring: Ann Palmenberg, Connor Bamford, Milagros Collados and Elihu Aranday-Cortes Editing: Shirin Ashraf |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/2019-stoker-award-winner-prof-ann-palmenberg |
Description | 23/6/20 The Review: Nardus Mollentze |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Do bats deserve their bad rap when it comes to virus transmission? Do human viruses disproportionately originate from specific animal groups? In the this episode of 'The Review' we answer these questions with Nardus Mollentze, a research associate at the Centre for Virus Research who gives us a snapshot of the results and implications of his recent publication. (www.pnas.org/content/117/17/9423) Featuring: Dr Nardus Mollentze and Dr Elena Sugrue. Edited and Produced by Elihu Aranday-Cortes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/why-always-me |
Description | 23rd Annual Glasgow Virology Workshop 10 February 2018 |
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 | The CVR hosted the 23rd Glasgow Virology Workshop (GVW) on Saturday the 10th of February (Sir Charles Wilson Building, University of Glasgow). This annual one day meeting aims to communicate the latest innovative science in the world of virology, and to promote interactions between scientists and a variety of stakeholders throughout the world. This meeting is an informal and welcoming one day event comprising a mix of presentations from both external and internal speakers, along with networking sessions. It is rounded off by an evening ceilidh to provide attendees with a more relaxed opportunity to engage with one another. The annual event attracts a wide age range of attendees (from undergraduate students through to healthcare professionals, members of the biotech industry to retired professors), providing an ideal opportunity to catch up with former colleagues, establish new collaborations, and listen to truly inspirational science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | 24th Annual Glasgow Virology Workshop June 2019 |
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 | The CVR hosted the 24th Glasgow Virology Workshop (GVW) on Friday VV June 2019 (Sir Charles Wilson Building, University of Glasgow). This annual one-day meeting aims to communicate the latest innovative science in the world of virology, and to promote interactions between scientists and a variety of stakeholders throughout the world. This meeting is an informal and welcoming one day event comprising a mix of presentations from both external and internal speakers, along with networking sessions. It is rounded off by an evening ceilidh to provide attendees with a more relaxed opportunity to engage with one another. The annual event attracts a wide age range of attendees (from undergraduate students through to healthcare professionals, members of the biotech industry to retired professors), providing an ideal opportunity to catch up with former colleagues, establish new collaborations, and listen to truly inspirational science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | 26/2/19 - Liz Wright Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | It's hard to get anywhere in microbiology without a microscope, and the cutting edge right now is cryo-electron microscopy, where samples are frozen in clear ice, so they stay in their natural state when they're viewed. In this week's episode, Connor is joined by Dr Liz Wright from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who explains how technological advances have empowered researchers to unpick the structures of viruses like RSV, influenza, and HIV. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/season-2-episode-4-liz-wright |
Description | 26/3/19 - Robert J Gifford Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this final episode, we change gears, from innate immunity to virus biology and evolution. Today, postdocs Connor and Elihu talk with Dr. Robert Gifford, CVR's resident evolutionary virologist and senior research fellow. Rob's lab combines sequence data and software development to explore virus genomics and coevolution of viruses and their hosts. He applies virus genomics to help and guide treatment of HCV-infected patients; support genomic surveillance and outbreak response for bluetongue and rabies; and explore the diversity of endogenous viral elements in published genome sequence data, just to name a few of his projects. Listen to him tell us how he became interested in this paleovirology by starting out working on endogenous retroviruses at Imperial College long before the NGS metagenomics techniques come about. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s2-ep6-robert-j-gifford |
Description | 27/1/20 The Review: Sema Nickbakhsh |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Can getting the flu reduce your chances of getting a cold? Can you get a cold and the flu at the same time? In the first episode of 'The Review' we answer these questions with Dr Sema Nickbakhsh, a research associate at the Centre for Virus Research who gives us a snapshot of the results and implications of her recent publication (www.pnas.org/content/116/52/27142) Elena Sugrue interviews and edits |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/the-review-1 |
Description | 28/09/2021 - Online Article ITV - Sam Wilson |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article commentary about how some people are better protected against covid |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-28/some-people-may-be-better-protected-against-covid-due-to-genes-s... |
Description | 29/6/20 The Review: Lea Meyer |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | an viruses steal our genetic signals to generate human-virus genes? Can these proteins alter the course of viral infection? In this episode of the review recorded via zoom we will answer these questions with Dr Léa Meyer a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Virus Research who gives us a snapshot of the results and implications of her recent publication (https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30630-9) and a wonderful story about scientists being nice to each other. Featuring: Dr Léa Meyer and Dr Elena Sugrue. Editing: Elena Sugrue. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/the-review-lea-meyer |
Description | 4/12/19 - Rachel Ulferts Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this episode, ex-postdoc Dr Connor Bamford will be speaking with Dr Rachel Ulferts from the Francis Crick Institute in London after she came to Glasgow recently to present her fascinating work. Dr Ulferts is currently a postdoc in the lab of Dr Rupert Beale at the Crick where she works on influenza virus and a cell process known as autophagy - or 'self eating'. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep7-rachel-ulferts |
Description | 5/3/19 - Greg Towers Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Jack and Douglas take a deep dive into the HIV field with Professor Greg Towers. Having established a enduring interest in HIV virology at a young age, Prof. Towers and his lab - based at University College London - work on some of the fundamental questions of HIV virology, including trying to understand what the differences are between pandemic strains and non-pandemic strains of the virus. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s2-ep5-prof-greg-towers |
Description | 6/11/19 - Pat Nuttall Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | eason 3 Episode 3: This week Jack and Douglas are talking ticks with Professor Pat Nuttall, where we hear about how changing conditions are increasing the risk of tick-borne viruses and how these viruses benefit from the peculiar properties of tick saliva. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s2-ep4-pat-nuttall |
Description | 6/11/19 - Paul Griffiths Contagious Thinking Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this episode we're welcoming Professor Paul Griffiths, from the Royal Free hospital and University College London. Professor Griffiths - who is a clinician by training - came to the CVR in Glasgow earlier this year to give a seminar. Connor (an ex CVR-postdoc) caught up with Paul in this episode and discuss his favourite virus, human cytomegalovirus (CMV), the road to making and testing vaccines against this very important virus, and his surprising side career as an author of factual and fictional science-inspired books. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/podcast-s3-ep3-paul-griffiths |
Description | 6/7/20 The Review: Kyriaki Nomikou |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In this episode of The Review we will answer these questions with Dr Kyriaki Nomikou, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Virus Research who gives us a snapshot of the results and implications of her recent publication and the outcome of several years of collaboration between European scientists. Featuring: Dr Kyriaki Nomikou and Dr Rute Maria Pinto. Editing: Rute Maria Pinto. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/the-review-kyriaki-nomikou |
Description | 7/2/20 The Tricky Virus Name Game Contagious Thinking Blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | A blog post discussing the issues with naming viruses by Douglas Stewart |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/the-tricky-virus-name-game |
Description | Annual PCR Workshops September 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Each year the CVR runs a series of 6 individual workshops for Higher Biology school pupils. Around 100 pupils attend each workshop and travel from schools throughout Scotland. The workshops are fully booked each year and run in collaboration with the Glasgow Science Centre and supported by Thermo Fisher. The workshops require the support of around 15-20 volunteers from the CVR and wider MVLS each year. The workshops provide pupils with experience and knowledge they would not normally receive until attending university. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Annual PCR Workshops September 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Each year the CVR runs a series of 6 individual workshops for Higher Biology school pupils. Around 100 pupils attend each workshop and travel from schools throughout Scotland. The workshops are fully booked each year and run in collaboration with the Glasgow Science Centre and supported by Thermo Fisher. The workshops require the support of around 15-20 volunteers from the CVR and wider MVLS each year. The workshops provide pupils with experience and knowledge they would not normally receive until attending university. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | August 2017 - Connor Bamford - Kate Bishop interview Blog post |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Following an interview with Kate Bishop in August 2018, we published a blog post to highlight key discussion points and interview questions - http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/switching-off-an-hiv-infection-with-samhd1/. The post has reached 681 followers on Facebook alone including likes and 4 shares by other accounts, along with 142 blog views. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | August 2017 - Mariana Varela Virology Highlights Guest Blog |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | CVR postdoc Mariana Varela produced a guest blog in http://www.virologyhighlights.com/beyond-tethering-new-insights-into-the-restriction-of-orthbunyaviruses-by-tetherin/. The blog was also shared on the CVR facebook and Twitter pages reaching over 850 on Facebook along with 5 shares and online commentary. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | CVR Blog #15 Arboviruses - Andrew Shaw September 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Our 15th blog post and part of a series of posts on the topic of arboviruses to help raise awareness of IMAV 2015. The post reached 278 people on Facebook and 79 views. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | CVR Contagious Thinking Podcast - Douglas Stewart naming viruses to geographical locations |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Contagious thinking podcast around how viruses get their names and the problems encountered |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | http://cvrblog.myportfolio.com |
Description | CVR PhD programme social media promotion - October 2018 - January 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | From October to January we scheduled regular posts on Facebook and Twitter to promote the CVR PhD programme. Clips of interviews of CVR PhD students past and present were used to support the campaign. Posts would receive shares and comments helping to widen our audience reach. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | CVR Stoker Award 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Every year, CVR early career scientists nominate and vote for an established, outstanding virologist who has made a significant contribution to their field. In 2018 CVR early career researchers presented the award to Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka - a virologist specialising in the study of influenza and Ebola viruses. He holds a professorship in virology in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and at the University of Tokyo, Japan. Professor Kawaoka will visit the CVR on Monday 27 August to deliver the prize lecture titled 'Working with deadly viruses: battling Ebola and influenza'. The lecture took place in the McCall lecture theatre. This was followed by a networking session and a blog and podcast. https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/visit-from-prize-winner-prof-kawaoka |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | CVR Stoker Award 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Every year, CVR early career scientists nominate and vote for an established, outstanding virologist who has made a significant contribution to their field. In 2019 CVR early career researchers presented the award to Professor Ann Palmenberg - plus podcast |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw June 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw interview Dr Kevin Bakker, a postdoc in the lab of Dr Daniel Streicker here in Glasgow who currently works on how vampire bat rabies spreads between animals for a podcast and blog. the podcast received 88 listens and was shared on Facebook and Twitter to increase audience reach. https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/copy-of-following-viruses-using-digital-epidemiology https://soundcloud.com/user-28288327/following-viruses-using-digital-epidemiology 4 page views |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Connor Bamford, Jack Hirst and Andrew Shaw Blog and Podcast July 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Connor Bamford, Jack Hirst and Andrew Shaw interview Professor Ian Goodfellow from the University of Oxford to hear about his career so far in virology and his recent work in helping stop viruses in Africa including during the recent West African Ebola outbreak. The interview was shared as a podcast and blog and shared on Facebook and Twitter. the podcast has had 90 listens on Soundcloud. https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/copy-of-fighting-viruses-across-africa-with-ian-goodfel https://soundcloud.com/user-28288327/ian-goodfellow |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Contagious Thinking podcast: Siyuan Hu: A Tale of One City |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | In a very special ad hoc episode, we have the personal experience from the inside of the coronavirus outbreak. From mainland China in Wuhan City, fellow postdocs Elihu Araday and Rute Pinto talked with Siyuan Hu, a PhD student in the Professor Margaret Hosie's group, who is currently in Wuhan and living this outbreak from a different perspective. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/siyuan-hu-a-tale-of-one-city |
Description | December 2017 - Connor Bamford - World Aids Day blog post and podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | To mark World Aids Day in December 2017, CVR postdoc Connor Bamford compiled a summary of research updates related to CVR HIV-focussed research in a blog post and podcast featuring an interview with CVR's Head of Bioinformatics David Robertson - http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/nothing-in-hiv-makes-sense-except-in-light-of-evolution/. The podcast reached an audience of 163 listens and 121 blog views. The post was shared on CVR social media channels reaching an audience of 605 followers on Facebook alone with 3 shares. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | December 2017 - Douglas Stewart World AIDS Day Blog post |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In December 2017, CVR PhD Student Douglas Stewart produced a blog post to mark World AIDS Day, while highlighting the work of the CVR in this area of research - https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/world-aids-day. The post was shared on social media reaching 434 followers and receiving 1 share on Facebook and also reached over 200 followers on Twitter. The blog post has been viewed 52 times. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | December 2017 - PE Activity Video Showreel |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In December 2017 CVR Communications Officer Siobhan Petrie published an overview of CVR public engagement and communications activities throughout 2017 on social media. This also helped to highlight our shortlisting and subsequent award of MVLS College Public Engagement Awards. The video was shared on social media reaching 386 Facebook followers and shared with our >200 Twitter followers. the film has been viewed 49 times on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk556cw48II&feature=youtu.be |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | Feb 2019 - Nicole Robb Contagious Thinking podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Podcast discussing another virus everyone is familiar with, especially now the winter season is here, influenza. But today we are changing tack, and bringing some physics into the mix. Shirin Ashraf and Connor Bamford interview Dr. Nicole Robb, from the University of Oxford. Dr. Robb is a virologist, who likes to approach viruses at the single molecule level, armed with tools from the physical world. Let's hear her exciting journey through interdisciplinary sciences and the potential of using physics to solve biological questions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/ |
Description | February 2017 - Mr Patrick Grady MP Visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | On 17 February Patrick Grady MP, SNP Spokesperson for International Development, visited the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR), to learn more about some of the ways MRC research supports global health and development aims. Mr Grady had the opportunity to discuss the CVR's work and international collaborations with Centre Director Professor Massimo Palmarini, followed by a tour of the CVR where he met with several of the Centre's researchers. The tour included a visit to a laboratory, the insectary, a powerful cryo-electron microscope, and genome sequencing technology. Researchers showed Mr Grady how mosquitoes are kept and used to study diseases such as dengue fever. He also saw images of cells under the cryo-electron microscope (which can help researchers to identify the location of viruses in cells) and learned about the CVR's role in rapidly analysing genome sequence data at the time of the Ebola outbreak. This work at the CVR allowed clinicians to identify what drugs were likely to work to treat British nurse Pauline Cafferkey, when she had contracted the virus. The visit was an all-round success and the External Affairs team has since followed up with Mr Grady to provide more information on the MRC's Units in The Gambia and Uganda as he was particularly interested in their work and the CVR's partnerships with the Units. We look forward to engaging with him and others in Parliament on MRC's global health research going forward. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | Glasgow Science Festival Science Sunday - June 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | CVR researchers took a range of popular activities (build a virus, glovebox chamber game and Biolegomatics along to the Science Sunday event as part of the Glasgow Science Festival. 10 researchers from the CVR volunteered for the event and they estimated that they interacted with around 200 people over the course of the day. The activity was also supported by social media activity. MP Patrick Grady also made a point of visiting the stand to try an activity, take a photograph and tweet about the day. Stand visitors tend to have a keen interest in science but it is an opportunity for families to have a fun day out and learn something new. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://twitter.com/CVRinfo/with_replies |
Description | Glasgow Science Festival Science Sunday 10 June 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | CVR researchers took a range of popular activities (build a virus and glovebox chamber game) along to the science Sunday event as part of the Glasgow Science Festival. They used this as an opportunity to trial a new activity called Biolegomatics. 11 researchers from the CVR volunteered for the event and they estimated that they interacted with around 200 people over the course of the day. The activity was also supported by social media activity. MP Patrick Grady also made a point of visiting the stand to try an activity, take a photograph and tweet about the day. Stand visitors tend to have a keen interest in science but it is an opportunity for families to have a fun day out and learn something new. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Jack Hirst and Douglas Stewart blog and podcast July 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Jack Hirst and Douglas Stewart interview Professor Jean-Luc Immler to hear about the immune system of insects, and the value of researching fruit flies for a podcast and blog post. The podcast has had 83 listens on Soundcloud https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/copy-of-whats-the-point-of-fruit-fly-research https://soundcloud.com/user-28288327/jli-edited |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Jack Hirst, Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw blog and Podcast June 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Jack Hirst, Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw interview Dr Gulsah Gabriel about his research on influenza virus. The podcast was supported by a blog and shared on Facebook and Twitter - https://cvrblog.myportfolio.com/copy-of-the-barriers-faced-by-flu-virus The podcast has had 80 listens on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/user-28288327/gulsah-edited 3 page views |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | MRC Festival - Classroom Takeover @ Cleveden Secondary School 14 June 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | As part of the MRC Festival, the CVR opted to run a session for higher biology pupils at a local secondary school. We approached one of the school teachers and following an initial discussion around what we could offer a date was agreed at the convenience of the school within the dates of the MRC Festival. We used this as an opportunity to obtain funding to develop one existing activity and to develop a brand new idea devised by our bioinformaticians. The CVR Glovebox Challenge was an existing activity that involves performing a series of intricate tasks inside a portable glovebox chamber while wearing PPE. The game is designed to help describe the conditions that can be found inside a wet lab and to introduce conversations about life working within a busy, cutting-edge laboratory. The glovebox chamber was due to go back into commission so funding for the MRC Festival meant we could replace the item and make use of it during our activity and beyond at future events. Biolegomatics This was a new activity developed by CVR bioinformaticians as a way to help explain the basic principles of genetic sequencing while also encouraging discussions around the role of a computer/data scientist. This activity proved particularly popular given the recent introduction of bioinformatics to the secondary school curriculum. Event preparation and format: CVR researchers began preparing for the event first by attending a mentoring session with Steve Allman to help develop ideas. They then went on to meet up on a further two occasions to refine timings and format and also to have a practice run-through. Our researchers structured the event by creating a story to explain the 5 key stages of research that follows a virus outbreak. Pupils were then divided into groups and each rotated round a series of 5 activities that helped to explain each of the 5 stages. We also planned to allow time for feedback at the end and took a quiz in case of any down time. In the event, we actually ran right up to the classroom bell. Feedback: We took feedback forms for the pupils and teachers to complete. Unfortunately, we ran out of time as the pupils were very engaged in the activities. We asked the teacher if he would ask the pupils to complete the forms in a later class. Unfortunately, this did not happen due to time constraints. We did however, receive incredibly positive feedback from all 3 teachers present who all commented on how enthusiastic and engaged the pupils were in each of the activities. We have also had multiple follow-up contacts from the class teacher who reported that the pupils were '100% enthused' and he also reported that the biolegomatics activity had helped pupils when they came to covering bioinformatics later in the school year. Follow-up: We have remained in contact with the class teacher as above and he has also in return been in touch to enquire about work experience opportunities. For this we directed him to sources of information and support within the MVLS College. We have also approached the school to ask of their interest in bringing pupils to the CVR for a visit as part of our festival activity in 2019. As a result we hope to maintain a longer term relationship with the school and to meet with our objective of inspiring the future generation of scientists. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | March 2017 - Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw Blog and Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In March 2017 CVR postdocs Connor Bamford and Andrew Shaw produced a blog http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/2017/03/ and podcast to share an interview with Professor Jan Rehwinkel from the University of Oxford and MRC Human immunology unit. The blog post had 44 views and the podcast had 139 listens. The post was shared on Facebook and Twitter reaching an audience of over 700 people along with likes and shares. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | March 2017 - Robert Gifford - Press Release PNAS article |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Following the publication of an article in PNAS Dr Robert Gifford worked with the University Press team to produce a press release for wider circulation. This story was picked up at the following online news sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/13/leukaemia-began-bats-45-million-years-ago-study-finds/ https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/5ybs3n/scientists_find_genetic_traces_of_early_leukemia/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1vA6t4qVoE http://www.wired.co.uk/article/prehistoric-leukaemia-virus https://www.upi.com/Remains-of-leukemia-ancestor-found-in-bat-genome/6921488891654/ It was also shared on the CVR social media channels along with examples of coverage. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | May 2016 - Dr Andrew Shaw CVR Podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | In May 2016 Dr Andrew Shaw CVR postdoc interviewed Professor Dave Evans, a virologist from the University of St Andrews, about bees and their viruses. Dave visited the CVR last year where he talked about his lab's work on studying the replication and recombination of positive sense RNA viruses, like hepatitis C virus and polio virus. But for the podcast we chose to ask him about his other interest: beekeeping, which he combines with his love of virology in his lab-turned apiary in St Andrews. http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/viruses-in-the-apiary-an-interview-with-dave-evans/ 61 people listened to the podcast with a reach of >1000 for the promotional Facebook and twitter posts. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | May 2019 - MRC Public Engagement Training Session Steve Cross |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | The MRC offered Public Engagement training from freelance consultant Steve Cross in May 2019. The session was offered to all MRC centres taking part in the MRC Festival of Medical Research across the UK. 12 CVR researchers including a mix of students and staff attended the session and provided positive feedback relating to their experience of the day. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Meet the Researcher Showcase Event Feb 2020 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Ilaria Epifano and Michaela Conley attended a two day event that took place in both the Dundee and Glasgow Science centres to run an exhibition attended by 200 Higher Biology School pupils from across Scotland each day. Our researchers used our build a virus activity to engage in conversation and took leaflets to share information about entering a career in virology. They estimate that they engaged with around 100 school pupils each day. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Nardus Mollentze interview for online article in New York Times |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Article title: Which animal viruses could infect people? Computers are racing to find out. New York Times. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/27/science/pandemic-viruses-machine-learning.html?smid=tw-share |
Description | November 2017 - Prof Palmarini Wellcome Trust video |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Prof Palmarini was interviewed to feature in a video clip to help promote a Wellcome Trust initiative designed to highlight and promote a range of exciting and high-profile Wellcome Trust-funded research projects. The video clip was shared as part of a series of 10 clips on the Wellcome Trust website - https://wellcome.ac.uk/news/10-ideas-we-fund-might-surprise-you This was also shared on social media by the Wellcome Trust and through CVR channels. The post reached over 500 followers on the CVR Facebook page and received 2 shares (including by one member of the public). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |
Description | Outbreak: The Pub Quiz |
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 | Join scientists from the Centre for Virus Research for some infectious fun at this pub quiz! Scientists will share their expertise and challenge your knowledge about the viruses hitting the headlines |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Pint of Science - Arthur Wickenhagen |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | CVR PhD student Arthur Wickenhagen participated in the local pint of science event to talk about his work on HIV, where it came from and where it is going |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Quiz Launch prior to release of a combined festive resource between the CVR and Climate and Environmental Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Dr Edward Hutchinson launced a quiz via @CVRinfo prior to the release of a festive resource working with Climate and Environmental Science |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Rob Gifford Blog Post |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Former Principal Investigator of the CVR has shared his research experiences in 2018 through a blog. This has been shared through Facebook and Twitter. http://bioinformatics.cvr.ac.uk/gifford-lab/website/2018-03-24-brazil-parvoviruses.html?fbclid=IwAR2eI8v1gQMDKB5bODazn-CKprq0RxjOjCMFw-1nz2TrHIQymaMHnHE_TS8 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Rob Gifford Blog Post 16 April 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | CVR Principal Investigator Robbert Gifford produces a blog post to share his research - http://bioinformatics.cvr.ac.uk/gifford-lab/website/2018-03-24-brazil-parvoviruses.html?fbclid=IwAR2eI8v1gQMDKB5bODazn-CKprq0RxjOjCMFw-1nz2TrHIQymaMHnHE_TS8 This was shared on his own blog and via the CVR Facebook and Twitter accounts |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | September 2016 - Connor Bamford Podcast with Prof Palmarini and Eleonora Meliz (CVR PhD Student) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Dr Connor Bamford interviewed our Director, Professor Massimo Palmarini and CVR PhD student Eleonora Melzi for a podcast published in September 2016. http://cvr.academicblogs.co.uk/architectural-antagonism-by-an-acute-arbovirus/ The post reached >400 people on social media with 71 people listening to the podcast on soundcloud |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch |
Description | Targeted Facebook and Twitter posts - ongoing publication promotion |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Throughout 2018, we have used social media as a means to highlight papers with CVR lead authors. Each paper receives an individual post with a lay description along with a tweet. We have tracked success by monitoring alt metric and social media stats. We have seen a correlation between social media promotion and increased readership of papers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch/ |