Dr Megan Griffiths

  • Research Assistant (Infectious Disease Ecology)

Research interests

General Research Interests:

My interests lie broadly in the epidemiology and ecology of infectious diseases in wildlife. I focus on developing mechanistic models of virus transmission and using data from field studies to parameterise and validate these models, currently in the study system of vampire bats in South America, with the Streicker Group.

 

PhD Research:

My PhD at the University of Glasgow (2018-2022) investigated a betaherpesvirus of vampire bats, and its suitability for use as a viral vector for a transmissible vaccine against vampire bat transmitted rabies virus. I used molecular and genetic deep sequencing methods to characterise the virus genome, its prevalence in vampire bats, and its geographic distribution and diversity across Peru. I then repurposed my deep sequencing data to fit models of herpesvirus transmission and simulate its application as a vaccine. Read all about it here.

 

Current Research:

My current post-doctoral research aims to describe the transmission of a bat-specific influenza virus (H18N11) within vampire bats, using a multi-year serology dataset to answer questions regarding viral persistence and temporal fluctuations.

 

Other interests:

I am involved in various outreach/engagement activities, including contributing to Glasgow Science Festival activities, and an ongoing collaboration with the Glasgow Science Centre to produce an exhibition introducing visitors to the world of bat disease research.

 

Find out more about my work in these videos and blog posts:

 

Research groups

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2020
Number of items: 7.

2024

Bull, J. J., Nuismer, S. L., Remien, C. H., Griffiths, M. E. and Antia, R. (2024) Recombinant transmissible vaccines will be intrinsically contained despite the ability to superinfect. Expert Review of Vaccines, 23(1), pp. 294-302. (doi: 10.1080/14760584.2024.2320845) (PMID:38372241)

Streicker, D. et al. (2024) Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infectious diseases. Science, 384(6693), pp. 275-277. (doi: 10.1126/science.adn3231) (PMID:38669579)

Sánchez, C. A. et al. (2024) Advances in understanding bat infection dynamics across biological scales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2018), 20232823. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2823) (PMID:38444339) (PMCID:PMC10915549)

2023

Griffiths, M. E. , Meza, D. K., Haydon, D. T. and Streicker, D. G. (2023) Inferring the disruption of rabies circulation in vampire bat populations using a betaherpesvirus-vectored transmissible vaccine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(11), e2216667120. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2216667120) (PMID:36877838) (PMCID:PMC10089182)

2022

Griffiths, M. E. , Broos, A. , Bergner, L. M. , Meza, D. K., Suarez, N. M., Da Silva Filipe, A. , Tello, C., Becker, D. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2022) Longitudinal deep sequencing informs vector selection and future deployment strategies for transmissible vaccines. PLoS Biology, 20(4), e3001580. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001580) (PMID:35439242) (PMCID:PMC9017877)

2020

Griffiths, M. E. , Bergner, L. M. , Broos, A. , Meza, D. K. , Da Silva Filipe, A. , Davison, A. , Tello, C., Becker, D. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2020) Epidemiology and biology of a herpesvirus in rabies endemic vampire bat populations. Nature Communications, 11, 5951. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19832-4) (PMID:33230120) (PMCID:PMC7683562)

Graham, S. , Mole, S., Faizo, A. A. A., Hernandez-Lopez, H., Griffiths, M. , Stevenson, A. and Roberts, S. (2020) Human papillomavirus type 16 infection activates the host serine arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) - splicing factor axis. Journal of General Virology, 101(5), pp. 523-532. (doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001402) (PMID:32182205)

This list was generated on Tue Jul 16 19:17:33 2024 BST.
Jump to: Articles
Number of items: 7.

Articles

Bull, J. J., Nuismer, S. L., Remien, C. H., Griffiths, M. E. and Antia, R. (2024) Recombinant transmissible vaccines will be intrinsically contained despite the ability to superinfect. Expert Review of Vaccines, 23(1), pp. 294-302. (doi: 10.1080/14760584.2024.2320845) (PMID:38372241)

Streicker, D. et al. (2024) Developing transmissible vaccines for animal infectious diseases. Science, 384(6693), pp. 275-277. (doi: 10.1126/science.adn3231) (PMID:38669579)

Sánchez, C. A. et al. (2024) Advances in understanding bat infection dynamics across biological scales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291(2018), 20232823. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2823) (PMID:38444339) (PMCID:PMC10915549)

Griffiths, M. E. , Meza, D. K., Haydon, D. T. and Streicker, D. G. (2023) Inferring the disruption of rabies circulation in vampire bat populations using a betaherpesvirus-vectored transmissible vaccine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(11), e2216667120. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2216667120) (PMID:36877838) (PMCID:PMC10089182)

Griffiths, M. E. , Broos, A. , Bergner, L. M. , Meza, D. K., Suarez, N. M., Da Silva Filipe, A. , Tello, C., Becker, D. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2022) Longitudinal deep sequencing informs vector selection and future deployment strategies for transmissible vaccines. PLoS Biology, 20(4), e3001580. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001580) (PMID:35439242) (PMCID:PMC9017877)

Griffiths, M. E. , Bergner, L. M. , Broos, A. , Meza, D. K. , Da Silva Filipe, A. , Davison, A. , Tello, C., Becker, D. J. and Streicker, D. G. (2020) Epidemiology and biology of a herpesvirus in rabies endemic vampire bat populations. Nature Communications, 11, 5951. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19832-4) (PMID:33230120) (PMCID:PMC7683562)

Graham, S. , Mole, S., Faizo, A. A. A., Hernandez-Lopez, H., Griffiths, M. , Stevenson, A. and Roberts, S. (2020) Human papillomavirus type 16 infection activates the host serine arginine protein kinase 1 (SRPK1) - splicing factor axis. Journal of General Virology, 101(5), pp. 523-532. (doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.001402) (PMID:32182205)

This list was generated on Tue Jul 16 19:17:33 2024 BST.

Professional activities & recognition

Selected international presentations

  • 2023: EEID (Penn State College)
  • 2022: IBRC (Austin, TX)

Megan Griffiths