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Pirbight's Plowright building from afar with wild plants in front

15 November 2024

Pirbright welcomes two successful Doctoral Landscape Awards in life and environmental sciences

The Pirbright Institute is celebrating two major doctoral training initiatives funded by the UKRI Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), each offering unique opportunities for the next generation of scientists. These programmes…

Close up of a pipette tip in a well of gel electrophoresis. Blue liquid is visible in the wells.

14 November 2024

Nurturing emerging leaders in science

Two talented Pirbright researchers have been awarded with Strategic Career Development Awards (SCDAs) to advance their research and career trajectories. Dr Rory Fortes de Brito, a Senior Postdoctoral researcher in the Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Immunology group and Dr Lidia…

Latest news

Two very young Rhode Island Red chicks

25 January 2024

Avian bronchitis vaccine replicates in cell culture

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have found it is possible to generate novel vaccines for avian bronchitis that are capable of replicating in cell culture. Writing in the journal PLOS One, the team outline how a virus generated using reverse genetics was found to offer 100% protection against…

Group of five people from Pirbright in a line smiling in front of a large white poster. One is holding a certificate.

22 January 2024

Pirbright celebrates Athena Swan Silver Award

The quest for gender equality at The Pirbright Institute has been recognised through an Athena Swan Silver Award. The Athena Swan Charter is a framework used across the globe to support and transform gender equality within higher education (HE) and research. The five-year accreditation acknowledges…

A person in a fluorescent orange jacket pointing at electrical parts on the left with two people on the right in jackets smiling

12 January 2024

Pirbright drives energy efficiencies

The Pirbright Institute is cutting fossil fuel energy use and costs across its Surrey campus in 2024. The Institute analysed the energy efficiency of its buildings and infrastructure in 2022-23 to develop a site-wide energy plan that drives down gas and electricity consumption. Measures now in place…

BBSRC National Vaccinology Centre: The Jenner Building

19 December 2023

Pirbright welcomes new BBSRC Executive Chair

The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan, has appointed Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith as the new Executive Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). Professor Ferguson-Smith is a highly respected developmental geneticist and…

A group of chickens gather around a watering hole

15 December 2023

Ancient DNA shows how a chicken virus evolved to become more deadly

Experts from The Pirbright Institute have worked with an international team of scientists led by Oxford and LMU Munich to trace the evolution of Marek's disease virus (MDV). The highly contagious poultry pathogen causes fatal disease in chickens worldwide, costing the poultry industry over $1…

Six people stood around a plaque in front of a screen with a red backgroun containing text that reads Pirbright Institute and Chinese text. Pirbright's Venu Nair and Yongxiu Yao stood in the middle to the right of the plaque.

13 December 2023

Avian disease research: Pirbright scientists strengthen UK-China collaboration

A team of avian disease researchers from The Pirbright Institute have visited China to strengthen international ties. The poultry industry is a significant partner in the quest for global food security and provides a significant source of protein for billions of people. China is among the top…

cow being vaccinated at the Compton site, Pirbright Institute

12 December 2023

Pirbright shares in global vaccines fund

The Pirbright Institute is to share in a £6.3m fund for five Global Vaccines Networks. The investment will allow Pirbright, in partnership with The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, to further develop the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), supported by the Medical…

culicoides biting midge sitting on a green stalk pirbright

08 December 2023

Pirbright joins hub to tackle vector-borne diseases

The Pirbright Institute is to work with scientific partners to establish a centre where experts tackle diseases spread by insects, ticks and mites. The £1.5m One Health Vector-Borne Diseases Hub is led by Imperial College London and funded by Defra and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences…

African domestic cows in Tanzania

23 November 2023

Foot-and-mouth disease control: Nagoya protocol poses ‘significant challenges’

An international agreement designed to share the benefits of genetic resources is presenting ‘significant logistical challenges’ to the control of transboundary livestock diseases, according to specialist researchers. The 2010 Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, implemented in 2014, is…

Heard of African buffalo in long grass with one looking directly at the camera

22 November 2023

Veterinary Vaccine Centre welcomed in White Paper

The expertise of the Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM) at The Pirbright Institute has been recognised in a Government White Paper aimed at ending world hunger. CVIM is celebrating its first year as a scientifically independent centre for livestock virus research – a…

Professor Bryan Charleston and Peter Stoicheff shakes hands, with Dr. Volker Gerdts stood behind them.

27 October 2023

Pirbright and VIDO expands collaboration to advance vaccine manufacturing

The Centre for Veterinary Vaccine Innovation and Manufacturing (CVIM) at The Pirbright Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with The University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO). The MOU allows for expanded collaborations and training…

Eight mpox cells under the microscope and coloured bright blue

Pirbright collaboration uncovers licensed drugs as potential treatments for poxvirus infections, including mpox and smallpox

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, and The Pirbright Institute have discovered how poxviruses evade natural defences in living cells and realised that drugs to stop them doing this are already available. Published in Nature, this research has investigated how…