Dr Jack Pilgrim BVSc MSc PhD MRCVS

Personal Statement

I studied Veterinary medicine at the University of Liverpool graduating in 2015 with an additional Masters in infectious disease and epidemiology. I then continued at the University in a research role, completing my PhD in veterinary microbiology in 2019, where I identified symbiotic bacteria of biting midges with potential to impact the insect's ability to transmit pathogens to Livestock. Since then, I have assisted the Centre for Genomic Research in surveillance of circulating COVID-19 variants during the pandemic and was involved in the development of new methods to cost-effectively monitor similar outbreaks. I am now a Postdoctoral Research Associate interested in the role of microbes and climate change on the ability of biting insects to transmit disease. My current project focuses on understanding the risk posed by emerging mosquito-borne diseases in the UK (West Nile Virus and Usutu virus) through infection work using field-caught mosquitoes alongside modelling current and future climate scenarios. My day-to-day job involves several different methodological approaches including insect laboratory and field work, molecular biology, genomics and virology techniques.