Award details

Disease Pathogenesis

Reference	BBS/E/I/00007030
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor John Hammond
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Dr Dalan Bailey, Dr Carrie Batten, Dr Philippa Beard, Dr Shahriar Behboudi, Dr Erica Bickerton, Dr Andrew Broadbent, Professor Bryan Charleston, Dr Karin Darpel, Dr Isabelle Dietrich, Dr Linda Dixon, Dr Mark Fife, Dr Wilhelm Gerner, Dr Simon Gubbins, Dr Kevin Maringer, Professor Venugopal Nair, Dr Christopher Netherton, Professor Satya Parida, Dr Paolo Ribeca, Dr Holly Shelton, Professor Elma Tchilian
Institution	The Pirbright Institute
Department	The Pirbright Institute Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	4,156,030
Status	Current
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2017
End date	31/03/2022
Duration	59 months

Abstract

Comparative studies between differentially susceptible populations within a species and between closely related species are enormously powerful systems to interrogate the processes that lead to disease. Viral pathogenesis represents the sum of viral virulence factors and host susceptibility that lead to disease outcome. The suite of biological mechanisms involved during this process is complex and the outcome of infection can differ depending on variation in the virus, the host or through environmental influences. Consequently, studies using the natural viral host species offer the detailed information needed to advance our understanding of these complex processes. Many of the viral pathogens we study cause differential disease within and between animal hosts. Susceptible species that do not show clinical signs can act as important virus reservoirs influencing viral evolution and transmission. Pirbright is uniquely placed with the capability to examine different host species responses to specific viral infections. These insights into the processes leading to disease are powerful tools to both identify future targets for disease control and for ensuring that any control strategies are not likely to exacerbate disease. Pirbright is uniquely placed to examine the contribution of host genetics to differential immune responses. These complex traits are challenging to study, often requiring targeted and bespoke analysis in combination with more typical whole genome analyses. This has great potential to identify targets for gene editing to explore immune function in vitro, improve resilience and vaccine responses through informed breeding and potentially lead to developing transgenic animals. Mathematical modelling of within-host dynamics has the potential to help understand mechanisms of viral pathogenesis and, in particular, factors influencing different clinical outcomes of infection. Moreover, it also provides a means to link pathogenesis with infectiousness and, hence, transmission between individuals.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Health, Immunology, Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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