Dr Caroline Wright

Caroline graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2002 with a 2:1 (Hons) in Marine Biology with Ocean Science. She later gained an MSc in Aquatic Resource Management from Kings College London in 2006. Changing tack from environmental science to molecular biology, Caroline embarked on a PhD at The Pirbright Institute (then known as the Institute for Animal Health), in 2008. Her PhD focused on dissecting the molecular basis of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) evolution using next-generation sequencing.

After her first post-doc at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), working on the microevolution of poliovirus, Caroline returned to The Pirbright Institute in 2014, initially within the Picornavirus Structure Group, under Prof. Terry Jackson, later the Picornavirus Molecular Biology Group, under Dr Toby Tuthill. Her research within this group focused on identifying new strategies for the development of safe, genetically stable, live-attenuated virus strains unable to cause infection.

In 2021, Caroline moved over to the Non-Vesicular Reference Laboratory (NVRL), as a Senior Scientist in Molecular Diagnostics, a role that predominantly focusses on the delivery of existing research milestones, as well as the development and expansion of the groups research portfolio more generally.  

Caroline has a strong interest in virus evolution and bioinformatics and The Pirbright Institute is currently sponsoring her to do a level 7 (MRes) apprenticeship in Bioinformatics at the University of Nottingham. Her aim is to bring these core skills into the heart of the NVRL and help develop its capabilities in this key field.