Kerry’s research interests are within the field of microbial pathogenesis and particularly focus on elucidating the host-pathogen interactions of veterinary infectious diseases of livestock.
Kerry obtained a BSc (Hons) in Bioveterinary Science at the University of Liverpool and then further continued her research interests in microbial pathogenesis here during an MRes in Clinical Sciences. During this time, Kerry investigated the inflammatory responses associated with an economically important infectious disease of dairy cattle, bovine digital dermatitis (BDD), and also investigated the aetiology of a novel form of digital dermatitis reported in wild Elk from Washington State, USA. She also spent time investigating the cellular expression of deubiquitinase enzymes in response to infection with arboviruses such as Chikungunya virus and Semliki Forest virus.
Whilst completing her PhD at the Institute of Infection and Global Health (University of Liverpool), Kerry continued to pursue her interests in the role of the host inflammatory and innate immune response in disease pathogenesis by investigating host-bacterial interactions in BDD using a transcriptomics approach. During this time, Kerry completed an internship within the Veterinary Medicine Research and Development Division of global animal health company, Zoetis, in Michigan (USA), working with Dr Duncan Mwangi within the Adjuvant and Immunomodulatory Research Group.
Kerry is currently working as a Postdoctoral Scientist within the Orbivirus Research Group at The Pirbright Institute. Her work is focussed on elucidating the role of specific T lymphocyte populations in disease manifestation, viral clearance and anti-viral immune responses in bluetongue virus (BTV)-infected sheep. Furthermore, Kerry’s work aims to determine the effect of T cell subset depletion on BTV transmission from and to Culicoides biting midges.
Kerry has enjoyed supervising both Veterinary undergraduate and MRes students, was an academic tutor for Realising Opportunities UK in 2015 and has taken part in a number of public engagement activities such as The Big Bang Fair North West and British School Science Week.
