Profile
Jack Hayes
My CV
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Education:
Graduate degree: University of Oxford (current)
University: University of Surrey
Sixth form and high school: Greenshaw High School
Many primary schools
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Qualifications:
Upper Second Class Honours (2:1) BSc in Microbiology.
A levels: Biology (A), Sociology (B), Psychology (B) and Graphic Design (B).
GCSEs: Moslty Bs and Cs
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Work History:
General Operative (cleaner and removals)
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Primary School Teacher’s Aide
IT Support and Repair
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Current Job:
PhD Student at The Pirbright Institute/University of Oxford
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Read more
I’ve worked on PRRSV for little over three years now, initally throughout a year long placement, then around 8 months as a Research Assisant, and now it’s the focus of my ongoing PhD project.
Before working at The Pirbright Institute I’d never even heard of PRRSV, but it remains one of the most economically important viruses in pigs across the world, costing more than $600 million per year in the US alone. On top of this, increasingly pathogenic strains have been emerging, with the most dramatic example being the emergence of a strain in 2006 in China which affected more than 2 million pigs!
Thankfully this is not a disease that infects humans, but it is clear to see what impact it can still have.
PRRSV actually exists as two genetically diverse species: PRRSV-1 emerging from Europe, and PRRSV-2 emerging from North America. This, combined with their rapid and extensive mutation makes it very difficult to design a vaccine that can protect against the broad number of PRRSV strains.
There is, however, an approach that may be able to overcome this; an approach that is also being investigated for viruses like influenza or HIV. In each of these examples there exist highly convserved epitopes: parts of the virus that can’t change, or it would result in the virus no longer being viable – able to infect/replicate/etc. Usually these are incredibly well hidden from the immune system, shielded by other proteins/sugars or overshadowed by more immunogenic decoys (meaning that they are much more likely to be targetted by the immune system) that do not neutralise the virus.
Trying to identify these epitopes is the heart of my work, with the key players being B-cells – the cells of the immune system responsible for producing antibodies. In pigs exposed to PRRSV, antibodies against these conserved epitopes do exist, but in such an immeasurably small percentage detecting them with conventional means would be near impossible.
Through the use of a retrovirus – a virus that’s able to insert DNA into other cells – we can immortalise B-cells, essentially turning them into cancer cell-like antibody factories! By setting up individual single cell cultures, we can establish a whole population of clones, all producing the same antibody. Typically thousands of these clonal populations will be set up, and we can then screen them using “virus probes” – either whole PRRSV particles, or small parts of the virus we think may specifically have these convserved epitopes.
These small parts, glycoproteins, we design ourselves using a method called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This amplifies selected DNA that we can then insert into bacteria, that will express the full protein!
Using these probes we can identify antibodes that are specific against PRRSV, and by screening probes from different PRRSV strains, we’ll hopefully be able to identify antibodies capable of offering broad protecting – an ideal vaccine candidate.
Because PRRSV-2 isn’t found in the UK (non-endemic) it has to be handled in our high containment facility: The Plowright Building. This is a completely isolated building with its own air flow; anything that goes in has to be disinfected before it can come out, including us!
In order to enter you have to strip down completely before changing into special scrubs and shoes:
These shoes will need to be changed again before heading into the labs, where you’ll also have to cover up with either a lab coat, or special virus gown made of rubber to protect from any potential spills.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Still got legs
What did you want to be after you left school?
A researcher
Were you ever in trouble at school?
More than I'd like to admit
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Bowie
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