Judith Breuer

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Judith Breuer
Alma mater Middlesex Hospital
University of London
Scientific career
Institutions University College London
St Mary's Hospital, London
St Bartholomew's Hospital
Thesis Sequence analysis of the Env genes of ten HIV-2 tissue culture isolates  (1996)

Judith Breuer FMedSci is a British virologist who is professor of virology and director of the Pathogen Genomics Unit at University College London. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2019. Breuer is part of the United Kingdom genome sequencing team that looks to map the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019.

Contents

Early life and education

As a child, Breuer was inspired by Vera Brittain and Simone de Beauvoir. [1] She eventually studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital medical school. [2] During her doctoral degree Breuer studied the genes of HIV-2 tissue culture isolates. [3] Her medical career started in East London, where she noticed that there was a large population of adults with chickenpox. This is rare for countries like the United Kingdom, where children usually contract the disease. [1] She undertook her specialist training in virology at St Mary's Hospital, London in the early nineties, and move to St Bartholomew's Hospital in 1993. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in 1998.[ citation needed ]

Research and career

In 2005 Breuer joined University College London, where she serves as Chair of Molecular Virology. [4] She simultaneously holds a clinical position at Great Ormond Street Hospital. [1] In 2012 she was made co-Director of the Division of Infection & Immunity. Her research focusses on genome sequencing and phylogenetics. She also studies how viral evolution impacts public health practises and policy. [1] Breuer demonstrated a methodology that enables the recovery of low copy viral DNA from clinical samples, which can then be used for whole genome sequencing. She has primarily investigated the genetic association of Varicella zoster virus, Herpes simplex virus and human parainfluenza viruses. [5]

Breuer has investigated norovirus, a pandemic that occurs on cycles of between two and five years. [6] Using phylogenetic trees Breuer showed that the pandemic strains of norovirus exist in the population long before the virus spreads around the world. She believes that changes in the immunity of a population create an environment that allows the pandemic to spread, and that the pandemic strains may exist in children before they emerge in the wider population. [1]

Alongside norovirus, Breuer has extensively studied the Varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles. It is the smallest of all herpesviridae. [7] For almost three decades it was unclear how the Varicella zoster virus retained its dormancy. Breuer was the first to identify a latency associated genetic transcript, which can persist in the neurons of almost all adults. [1] She demonstrated that the diversity of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in clinical samples is not caused by frequent mutation, as was previously thought, but instead due to multi-strain infection. This finding demonstrates that HCMV does not mutate faster than other viruses, making it easier to identify a vaccination. [8]

In 2016 Breuer launched the Pathogens Genomics Unit at University College London, which allows the scientific community to better sequence pathogen genomes. [1] [9] She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2019. [10]

Her research includes the development of new tools and tests to protect people from antimicrobial resistance. [11] Supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, Breuer looks to identify and treat antimicrobial resistant diseases, ensure the appropriate treatment pathways and prevent the spread of antibiotic resistant diseases between people. This aspect of her research makes use of artificial intelligence to quickly interpret test results, collating information from electronic health records and learning how clinicians make use of test results in clinical care. [12] To achieve this, Breuer is involved with the design of new diagnostic tools, comprehensive randomized controlled trials and clinical management mechanisms. [11]

In 2020 Breuer was appointed the London lead of a national response effort to sequence the genome and map the spread of the novel coronavirus disease. [13]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<i>Cytomegalovirus</i> Genus of viruses

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a genus of viruses in the order Herpesvirales, in the family Herpesviridae, in the subfamily Betaherpesvirinae. Humans and other primates serve as natural hosts. The 11 species in this genus include human betaherpesvirus 5, which is the species that infects humans. Diseases associated with HHV-5 include mononucleosis and pneumonia, and congenital CMV in infants can lead to deafness and ambulatory problems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viral meningitis</span> Medical condition

Viral meningitis, also known as aseptic meningitis, is a type of meningitis due to a viral infection. It results in inflammation of the meninges. Symptoms commonly include headache, fever, sensitivity to light and neck stiffness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varicella zoster virus</span> Herpes virus that causes chickenpox and shingles

Varicella zoster virus (VZV), also known as human herpesvirus 3 or Human alphaherpesvirus 3 (taxonomically), is one of nine known herpes viruses that can infect humans. It causes chickenpox (varicella) commonly affecting children and young adults, and shingles in adults but rarely in children. VZV infections are species-specific to humans. The virus can survive in external environments for a few hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shingles</span> Viral disease caused by the varicella zoster virus

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a localized area. Typically the rash occurs in a single, wide mark either on the left or right side of the body or face. Two to four days before the rash occurs there may be tingling or local pain in the area. Other common symptoms are fever, headache, and tiredness. The rash usually heals within two to four weeks; however, some people develop ongoing nerve pain which can last for months or years, a condition called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). In those with poor immune function the rash may occur widely. If the rash involves the eye, vision loss may occur.

Herpes virus may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aciclovir</span> Antiviral medication used against herpes, chickenpox and shingles

Aciclovir (ACV), also known as acyclovir, is an antiviral medication. It is primarily used for the treatment of herpes simplex virus infections, chickenpox, and shingles. Other uses include prevention of cytomegalovirus infections following transplant and severe complications of Epstein–Barr virus infection. It can be taken by mouth, applied as a cream, or injected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meningoencephalitis</span> Medical condition

Meningoencephalitis, also known as herpes meningoencephalitis, is a medical condition that simultaneously resembles both meningitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the meninges, and encephalitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the brain tissue.

Virus latency is the ability of a pathogenic virus to lie dormant within a cell, denoted as the lysogenic part of the viral life cycle. A latent viral infection is a type of persistent viral infection which is distinguished from a chronic viral infection. Latency is the phase in certain viruses' life cycles in which, after initial infection, proliferation of virus particles ceases. However, the viral genome is not eradicated. The virus can reactivate and begin producing large amounts of viral progeny without the host becoming reinfected by new outside virus, and stays within the host indefinitely.

<i>Herpesviridae</i> Family of DNA viruses

Herpesviridae is a large family of DNA viruses that cause infections and certain diseases in animals, including humans. The members of this family are also known as herpesviruses. The family name is derived from the Greek word ἕρπειν, referring to spreading cutaneous lesions, usually involving blisters, seen in flares of herpes simplex 1, herpes simplex 2 and herpes zoster (shingles). In 1971, the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) established Herpesvirus as a genus with 23 viruses among four groups. As of 2020, 115 species are recognized, all but one of which are in one of the three subfamilies. Herpesviruses can cause both latent and lytic infections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoster vaccine</span> Vaccine to prevent shingles

A zoster vaccine is a vaccine that reduces the incidence of herpes zoster (shingles), a disease caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, which is also responsible for chickenpox. Shingles provokes a painful rash with blisters, and can be followed by chronic pain, as well as other complications. Older people are more often affected, as are people with weakened immune systems (immunosuppression). Both shingles and postherpetic neuralgia can be prevented by vaccination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varicella vaccine</span> Vaccine to prevent chickenpox

Varicella vaccine, also known as chickenpox vaccine, is a vaccine that protects against chickenpox. One dose of vaccine prevents 95% of moderate disease and 100% of severe disease. Two doses of vaccine are more effective than one. If given to those who are not immune within five days of exposure to chickenpox it prevents most cases of disease. Vaccinating a large portion of the population also protects those who are not vaccinated. It is given by injection just under the skin. Another vaccine, known as zoster vaccine, is used to prevent diseases caused by the same virus – the varicella zoster virus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical microbiology</span> Branch of medical science

Medical microbiology, the large subset of microbiology that is applied to medicine, is a branch of medical science concerned with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. In addition, this field of science studies various clinical applications of microbes for the improvement of health. There are four kinds of microorganisms that cause infectious disease: bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses, and one type of infectious protein called prion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mollaret's meningitis</span> Medical condition

Mollaret's meningitis is a recurrent or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. Since Mollaret's meningitis is a recurrent, benign (non-cancerous), aseptic meningitis, it is also referred to as benign recurrent lymphocytic meningitis. It was named for Pierre Mollaret, the French neurologist who first described it in 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chickenpox</span> Human viral disease

Chickenpox, or chicken pox, also known as varicella, is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease caused by the initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV), a member of the herpesvirus family. The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab over. It usually starts on the chest, back, and face. It then spreads to the rest of the body. The rash and other symptoms, such as fever, tiredness, and headaches, usually last five to seven days. Complications may occasionally include pneumonia, inflammation of the brain, and bacterial skin infections. The disease is usually more severe in adults than in children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virus</span> Infectious agent that replicates in cells

A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 11,000 of the millions of virus species have been described in detail. The study of viruses is known as virology, a subspeciality of microbiology.

Neurovirology is an interdisciplinary field which represents a melding of clinical neuroscience, virology, immunology, and molecular biology. The main focus of the field is to study viruses capable of infecting the nervous system. In addition to this, the field studies the use of viruses to trace neuroanatomical pathways, for gene therapy, and to eliminate detrimental populations of neural cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viral metagenomics</span>

Viral metagenomics uses metagenomic technologies to detect viral genomic material from diverse environmental and clinical samples. Viruses are the most abundant biological entity and are extremely diverse; however, only a small fraction of viruses have been sequenced and only an even smaller fraction have been isolated and cultured. Sequencing viruses can be challenging because viruses lack a universally conserved marker gene so gene-based approaches are limited. Metagenomics can be used to study and analyze unculturable viruses and has been an important tool in understanding viral diversity and abundance and in the discovery of novel viruses. For example, metagenomics methods have been used to describe viruses associated with cancerous tumors and in terrestrial ecosystems.

Eleni Nastouli is a Greek clinical virologist who works at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. At UCLH, Nastouli leads the Advanced Pathogen Diagnostics Unit, where she develops technologies for genome sequencing as well as studying how viruses are transmitted around hospitals. During the COVID-19 pandemic Nastouli led an investigation into infection rates amongst healthcare workers.

Live recombinant vaccines are biological preparations that improve immunity through the use of live bacteria or viruses that are genetically modified. These live pathogens are biologically engineered to express exogenous antigens in the cytoplasm of target cells, triggering immune responses as a result. This form of vaccine combines the beneficial features of attenuated and recombinant vaccines, providing the preparation with attenuated vaccines’ long-lasting immunity and recombinant vaccines’ genetically engineered precision and safety.

Anne Gershon is an infectious disease researcher and professor of pediatrics at Columbia University. She is best known for her work on the varicella-zoster virus, the causative agent for chickenpox. In the 1970s, she ran clinical trials for the varicella vaccine which showed that the vaccine was safe for children with leukemia. She also developed the first sensitive test for chickenpox.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UCL (2019-01-29). "judith-breuer-interview". UCL Research Domains. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  2. ↑ Hoeger, Peter H.; Kinsler, Veronica; Yan, Albert C. (2019-12-04). Harper's Textbook of Pediatric Dermatology. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-119-14280-5.
  3. ↑ Breuer, Judith (1996). Sequence analysis of the Env genes of ten HIV-2 tissue culture isolates (Thesis). OCLC   53649102.
  4. ↑ UCL (2018-11-06). "Judy Breuer". UCL Antimicrobial Resistance. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  5. ↑ "Prof Judith Breuer". UCL. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  6. ↑ UCL (2019-06-25). "NOROPATROL: Why do Norovirus pandemics occur & how can we control them?". Division of Infection and Immunity. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  7. ↑ Breuer, Judith (2019). "The Origin and Migration of Varicella Zoster Virus Strains". The Journal of Infectious Diseases. 221 (8): 1213–1215. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiz232 . PMID   31051031.
  8. ↑ "Common virus is 'less prone to mutation' giving hope for vaccine development". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  9. ↑ "New genomics unit can sequence direct from samples | UCLH Biomedical Research Centre". www.uclhospitals.brc.nihr.ac.uk. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  10. ↑ "Professor Judith Breuer | The Academy of Medical Sciences". acmedsci.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  11. 1 2 UCL (2020-01-13). "Precision AMR". Division of Infection and Immunity. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  12. ↑ "GOSH and ICH to tackle antibiotic resistance in children". www.gosh.nhs.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  13. ↑ UCL (2020-03-23). "Leading UCL scientist joins major new alliance to map spread of coronavirus". UCL News. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
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