Mr Matt Tully

In 2011, after completing his undergraduate studies in Microbiology at The University of Surrey, Matt began his career at Merial Animal Health in Pirbright. As a Senior Quality Control Analyst for Foot and Mouth disease (FMDV) vaccine production and development he built a portfolio of skills in virology, immunology and vaccinology. He later became the site Environmental Specialist, focusing on bacterial contaminant identification and the trouble shooting of critical areas in the production process.

With a desire to learn about other animal viruses and diagnostic development, Matt joined the Non-Vesicular Reference Laboratory at The Pirbright Institute in 2018. As part of the national capability for detecting viral incursions of diseases such as bluetongue (BTV) and African swine fever (ASFV), Matt became proficient in the diagnostic applications of RT-qPCR and various methods of ELISA. Drawing on experience with cell culture-based titration methods and serological assays, Matt has also leant his hand to disinfectant evaluation testing and small research projects such as the UVC survivability of ASFV. He has also collaborated with other groups, internally and externally, with notable contributions to DEFEND and GALVmed.

On a secondment with the Viral Glycoproteins Group in 2020 Matt helped develop a pseudoparticle based neutralisation assay and assisted in the validation efforts of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines from Oxford and Imperial Universities respectively. This paved the way for his recent collaborative research article ‘The evaluation of five serological assays in determining seroconversion to peste des petits ruminants virus in typical and atypical hosts’, in support of the global PPR eradication efforts.