CVR podcast Contagious Thinking

A mini podcast exploring new research tracking COVID-19 immunity in Malawi. First author, Dr Mhairi McCormack, explains how infection, vaccination, and variant waves shaped protection in urban and rural communities and why children and people living with HIV may face higher risks. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-22599-7

In this episode, Dan Liu, a newly graduated PhD student from the MRC-UofG Centre for Virus Research, shares the story behind PLM-interact — a new AI-powered model published in Nature Communications. By teaching artificial intelligence to understand the “language” of proteins, her research helps predict how proteins interact, offering new insights into virus–host relationships and the molecular machinery of life itself. Read the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64512-w

Flu viruses use secret cellular tunnels to escape your immune system! New research from Daniel Weir and colleagues uncovers influenza's most elusive escape route - tunnelling nanotubes that let viruses spread completely undetected.🔗 KEY RESOURCES:📄 Research Paper: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013191🦠 More from Daniel Weir and the Hutchinson Lab: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/aboutus/people/researchgroups/hutchinsongroup/ 📱 Follow for more from the CVR: https://x.com/CVRinfohttps://bsky.app/profile/cvrinfo.bsky.socialhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr/

This episode explores the lived experiences of neurodivergent researchers in academia, from autism to ADHD. Through candid conversations with scientists at different career stages, we uncover both the challenges they face in traditional academic environments and the unique strengths they bring to scientific discovery. Our guests share practical strategies for supporting neurodiversity in research settings while advocating for systemic changes that could transform academia into a more inclusive space where different thinking styles are not just accommodated but celebrated as essential to innovation. https://www.neurodiversityweek.com/ Amit Meir Ben Efraim Marina Kugler Vanessa Herder

Listen to Dr Nir Drayman chat to Dr Mila Collados Rodriguez about his journey moving from Isreal to Chicago, to building his very own lab in California. Nir embraced the unexpected twists of life and found his passion for virology while working in systems biology labs. He speaks about the challenges of navigating career opportunities, spousal hiring schemes and the meticulous process of choosing the flooring for your first laboratory. Nir gives advice on how to communicate your research effectively, convince committees to hire you and to embrace the individuality of every scientific path. 🔗 Links Find out more about Nir Drayman: https://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=7088 Follow Nir on X: https://twitter.com/NirDrayman Follow Mila on X: https://twitter.com/CacaoL8ver Find out more about the CVR: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

Spanish virologist Nerea Irigoyen provides an inside look at her career with PhD students from the Castello Lab, Natasha Palmalux and Rozeena Arif. Nerea details her pioneering work using ribosomal profiling to uncover the complexities of viral gene expression, as well as her experiences transitioning to an independent group leader role. Irigoyen also shares valuable guidance for early career researchers, especially those from Spain seeking to establish themselves internationally, and she stresses the benefits of diverse lab experiences and the need to develop resilience against online criticism. 🔗 Links Learn more about Nerea Irigoyen: https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/staff/nerea-irigoyen Find out more about the CVR: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

Dr Angela Rasmussen travelled from the University of Saskatchewan to the CVR in September 2023, and sat down with Spyros Lytras and Kieran Lamb. Angela gives insight into dealing with toxic bosses, sustained research investments, empowering underrepresented groups of people, dealing with conflict and connecting with colleagues across disciples through social media. 🔗 Links More about Angela Rasmussen: https://www.vido.org/team/project-leaders-veterinarians/angela-rasmussen Follow Spyros on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SpyrosLytras Follow Kieran on Twitter/X:https://twitter.com/Kieran12Lamb Find out more about the CVR: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

Prof Wendy Barclay OBE, winner of the 11th Annual Sir Michael Stoker Award, sat down with Stephen Devlin and Anna Sims on her visit the the CVR. Wendy gives insight into building a career in virology, navigating the challenges of science communication in the digital age, the importance of widening your network and asking for help. 🔗 Links More about Wendy Barclay, including contact information: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/w.barclay Follow Stephen on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/sdevlinbio Follow Anna on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/annasimsbiol Find out more about the CVR: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/

For #HPVAwarenessDay, Anna Kirk, a PhD Researcher in the Graham Lab, takes a deep dive into Human Papillomavirus in our recent Research Goes Viral podcast. Anna explains the viral life cycle of HPV, how disruption of this cycle can lead to cancer, and how we can protect ourselves. #OneLessWorry

Hear from Rita Ribeiro as she describes life as a researcher working with vampire bats in Peru. Carrying out fieldwork is vital in the fight against rabies, which is spread by vampire bats in Latin America. This podcast short accompanies the Vampire Bats: Going Viral exhibit, which was produced through a unique collaboration between researchers from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and Glasgow Science Centre. --- 🔗 Links Find out more about the exhibit: www.cvr-engagement.co.uk/batsgoviral Follow BatsGoViral Lab on Twitter: twitter.com/BatsGoViral Find out more about the CVR: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

Associate Professor Anice Lowen travelled all the way from Atlanta's Emory University to deliver the Richard M. Elliott Memorial Lecture at the recent Glasgow Virology Workshop. Anice completed her PhD at the CVR (then MRC Virology Unit) with Richard Elliott. We invited Anice along to chat with a couple of our PhD students, Stephen Devlin and Anna Sims, about her research in influenza A transmission and genome reassortment, her career path and her advice for early career researchers. Find out more about Anice and the Lowen Lab: http://www.lowenlab.com/ Follow Anice on Twitter: https://twitter.com/anice_lowen Follow Anna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/annasimsbiol Follow Stephen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sdevlinbio 🔗 Links Find out more about the CVR: https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CVRinfo  Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/  Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

There is now strong evidence that the virus AAV2, alongside an underlying genetic predisposition, played a key role in cases of acute hepatitis in children, according to a new study published in Nature – the first detailed research investigation into the worldwide outbreak. In this podcast, host Stephen Devlin takes a deep dive into this new publication with lead author Dr Antonia Ho, Bioinformatician Dr Richard Orton and Pathologist Dr Vanessa Herder. The peer-reviewed study, which was led by researchers at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, Public Health Scotland (PHS) and ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infections Consortium) WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK (CCP-UK), found that the common virus AAV2 (adeno-associated virus 2) was present in a range of different samples taken from children with acute unexplained hepatitis. In contrast, AAV2 was not found to be commonly present in samples taken from children in the control groups. Researchers believe that AAV2 virus may have played a key role in the development of acute hepatitis in a small number of young children around the world. Read the paper 'Adeno-associated virus 2 infection in children with non-A-E hepatitis' here: --- 🔗 Links Follow Toni on Twitter: twitter.com/DrToniHo Follow Vanessa on Instagram: instagram.com/vanessa.herder/ Follow Richard on Twitter: twitter.com/RichardJOrton Follow Stephen on Twitter: twitter.com/sdevlinbio Find out more about the CVR: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

New research from Professor Daniel Streicker and colleagues has revealed that vampire bat culls may actually exacerbate rabies transmission, rather than reducing it. In this podcast, Anna Kirk chats to Daniel Streicker and Megan Griffiths about their research around vampire bats and rabies virus. Megan's PhD project was focused on the development of a transmissible vaccine using a herpes virus to reduce rabies transmission in vampire bat populations. Read Daniels Science Advances paper 'Effects of culling vampire bats on the spatial spread and spillover of rabies virus' here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciad…7437#.ZA2-ZrIC6Ko Read the Nature paper which discusses Daniel's work here: www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00712-y Read Megan's PNAS paper 'Inferring the disruption of rabies circulation in vampire bat populations using a betaherpesvirus-vectored transmissible vaccine' here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2216667120 --- 🔗 Links Follow BatsGoViral Lab on Twitter: twitter.com/BatsGoViral Follow Daniel on Twitter: twitter.com/DanielStreicker Follow Megan on Twitter: twitter.com/Megan3Griffiths Follow Anna on Twitter: twitter.com/Anna__Kirk Find out more about the CVR: www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/CVRinfo Follow us on Instagram: www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr

Listen to the 2022 Stoker Award Winner, Professor Christian Drosten talk about his coronavirus research, challenges of science communication and the song that a German punk band wrote about him! On Monday 9 January, we welcomed 2022 Sir Michael Stoker Award winner Professor Christian Drosten to the CVR. This annual award is awarded to a highly reputable scientist to honour their significant contributions within the field of virology who have excellent transparency with their research, regularly engaging with both the public and within the research community. Candidates are nominated and voted for by students, postdocs and technical staff within the CVR - and winners are invited to the CVR for the day to receive the award, meet with our early career researchers and give a seminar. The winner of the 10th edition of the award, Professor Drosten is the director of the Institute of Virology at the Charite University Hosptial in Berlin, and is an instrumental figure in the field of coronaviruses , particularly in the areas of cross-immunity and host adaption. Some of his career highlights include the co-discovery of SARS-CoV, development of the first diagnostic WHO-approved RT-qPCR against SARS-CoV-2 and the development of RNA and antibody assays against MERS-CoV, which first implicated camels as the primary reservoir. Christian also has a general interest in the evolution, epidemiology and host-adaption of many other emerging viruses such as Ebolavirus, Avian Influenza and Zika Virus.

Three of our incredible researchers, Stephen Devlin, Anna Sims and Spyros Lytras, recently sat down to discuss some prominent LGBTQIA+ virologists and microbiologists from history and why it's important to celebrate them today. This is a special edition of our Research Goes Viral podcast to celebrate LGBT+ History Month 2023. Learn more here: https://lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk/ --- 🔗 Links Follow Stephen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sdevlinbio Follow Anna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/annasimsbiol Follow Spyros on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpyrosLytras Find out more about the CVR: [https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/cvr/] Follow us on Twitter: [https://twitter.com/CVRinfo] Follow us on Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/] Follow us on LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr]

Surveillance and treatment of Hepatitis C in a changing world - a Viral Insight with Emma Thomson by MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research

Have a listen to our special Viral Insight episode for #WorldHepatitisDay 2022! Meet Dr Joe Grove, a Senior Lecturer here at the CVR as he discusses his journey into science, the breakthroughs in hepatitis C virus (HCV) experimental systems which occurred during his career and the importance of involving people living with HCV in research.

Listen to our latest podcast episode for Contagious Thinking in which Sarah Iannucci discusses all things Medical Visualisation. Sarah Iannucci recently completed a Masters of Science in Medical Visualisation and Anatomy, a degree offered jointly by The University of Glasgow and the famous Glasgow School of Art. The aim of the programme is to dissect and examine human anatomy and reconstruct it in a real-time 3D environment for use in education, simulation, and training. Sarah discusses her journey into Biomedical Visualisation, her MSc degree, her amazing MSc project, her hopes for the future of medical visualisation, and her current position as Medical Visualisation Engineer at Axial 3D. SARAH IANNUCCI Twitter: twitter.com/sarahiannucci1 Instagram: www.instagram.com/iannuccivisuals/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarahmiannucci/ Website: www.sarahmiannucci.com/ The SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Mutation Explorer App: www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/cvr/impact/covid-19researchresponse/sars-cov-2explained/sars-cov-2spikeproteinmutationexplorer/ CONTAGIOUS THINKING Twitter: twitter.com/CVRblog Website: cvrblog.myportfolio.com/ Podcasts: soundcloud.com/user-28288327 CENTRE FOR VIRUS RESEARCH Facebook: www.facebook.com/centreforvirusresearch Twitter: www.twitter.com/CVRinfo Instagram: www.instagram.com/cvrinfo/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/mrc-uofg-cvr Website: www.gla.ac.uk/researchinstitutes/iii/cvr/ OTHER LINKS Degree Information - MSc Medical Visualisation and Anatomy: www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/taught/medicalvisualisation/ COG-UK: www.cogconsortium.uk/ Axial 3D: axial3d.com/

In this special edition podcast for world hepatitis day Anna Kirk interviews John McLauchlan, a Professor of Viral Hepatitis at the Centre for Virus Research. John is an expert in hepatitis C virus, a bloodborne virus which can often result in chronic infections. Globally there are an estimated 71 million of these chronic infections which can result in cirrhosis or liver cancer. Today, the development of antivirals against hepatitis C virus enables this infection to be cured in more than 95% of cases however, access to diagnosis and treatment is low and there is currently no vaccine available. We discuss this and more in the episode as we look back on John’s successful career and celebrate his many achievements.

In this episode of the review we discuss Dr Kieran Dee’s exciting discovery that coinfections of rhinovirus and SARS-CoV-2 result in reduced replication of SARS-CoV-2. We discuss the potential for the real world impact of this, how it feels to get your research into news outlets such as the BBC and the future directions for this study. You can find our previous content on at cvrblog.myportfolio.com, email us at cvrcontagiousthinking@gmail.com or tweet us @CVRblog. Featuring: Dr Kieran Dee and PhD student Anna Kirk. Editing: Anna Kirk. Music: Something Elated - Broke for Free freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free