Dr Joanne Griffin

Personal Statement

Jo studied for her BSc in Biological Sciences with Study in Continental Europe at the University of Birmingham, UK and University of Montpellier II, France before attaining a PhD in Evolutionary Ecology at the University of Liverpool, under the supervision of Prof Greg Hurst. During her PhD she investigated host factors that determine compatibility (ability to infect and proliferate without causing excess pathology) to novel endosymbiont infections, following a host-shift. Jo used the Spiroplasma/Drosophila/parasitoid and the Arsenophonus/Nasonia systems to address the tempo of evolution of compatibility and the role of gut microbiota and the immune system in determining compatibility.

Jo is joining the Betancourt lab to investigate host-transposable element relationships and transposable element invasions, most notably that of P-element in Drosophila.