Jack Hayes

Personal photo - Jack Hayes

Jack W.P. Hayes

Background


BSc in Microbiology (4 year sandwich course) from the Unviersity of Surrey.
Modules included clinical immunology, epidemiology, animal and human infectious diseases virology, pharmacology, immunology, and medical pathology


20 months working as a Research Assistant at The Pirbright Institute.
Spent a substantial time working in a SAPO4 level containment facility; confident with working with containment level pathogens. Experienced in handling and working with numerous viruses during this time, including FMDV, BVDV and Swine influenza.


My research area is predominantlty in porcine viruses, particularly the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Virus. PRRS is the most important infectious disease affecting the global pig industry. PRRS viruses (PRRSV) are a major threat to both animal welfare and food security, as demonstrated by the pig high fever disease outbreak that rapidly spread across Southeast Asia with devastating consequences. PRRSV exists as two genetically and antigenically distinct species, PRRSV-1 and -2, which are both rapidly evolving. The emergence of highly pathogenic strains from both species and the failure of current live attenuated vaccines to provide broad protection against an ever-expanding diversity of viral strains pose significant challenges to effective disease control world-wide. Neutralizing antibodies have beem shown to confer protection against PRRSV and recent studies have shown antibody responses can neutralize a wide diversity of PRRSV strains. Identification of these conserved epitopes would lay the solid basis on which to rationally develop a vaccine capable of eliciting broadly neutralising antibodies.

Interests

My area of interest has always been viruses...

Research

August 2017- August 2018:
  • Worked on the project: “Genetic programming of porcine memory B cells to enable the isolation of PRRSV-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies” under Dr. Simon Graham. I joined at the end of a PRRSV challenge study: 6 naïve pigs were sequentially inoculated (i.m. and i.n.) with 4 well-characterised PRRSV strains. Sera from each pig was routinely harvested each week, and longitudinal VNT (virus neutralisation test) were performed to give a complete timeline of nAb titres. By labelling the distinct populations, we are able to isolate memory B-cells, IgG and IgA, which we hoped were specific to PRRSV. Gained significant laboratory experience, collating and presenting data in monthly lab meetings, as well as developing proficient communication and teamwork skills.


  • Contributed to the project "Evaluation of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers as Synthetic Virus Neutralizing Antibody Mimics" developing Molecularly-imprinted polymers (MIPs) in an attempt to develop novel antibody-based therapeutics to the NiPah virus (manuscript pending).


September 2018- June 2019:

  • Worked on the project: “Characterisation of recombinant PRRSV-1 rescued from infectious plasmids” under Dr. Julian Seago. Further developed laboratory skills, gaining experience with a number of molecular-based techniques.


DPhil research project:

  • Dissecting the neutralising antibody response to the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus to identify novel vaccine targets. Partnered with The Pirbright Institute, Diamond Light Source, the University of Oxford, and Zoetis Inc.

Publications

  • Establishment of Systems to Enable Isolation of Porcine Monoclonal Antibodies Broadly Neutralizing the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus
    Frontiers in Immunology 2018


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