Contact

• workSutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• work0115 951 6493
• Peter.Mertens@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Prof. Peter Mertens studied Virology at Warwick and Oxford Universities, then completed a post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Guelph in Canada during 1981. He has since worked on the Orbiviruses, particularly Bluetongue and African horse sickness viruses (BTV and AHSV) at the Pirbright Institute (35 years), rising to Head of Group (Arbovirus Molecular Research) and head of Department/Programme (Vector-borne Viral Diseases).

His group was responsible for development of novel diagnostic assays and the epidemiology studies used to identify and track BTV outbreaks across Europe (including the UK from 1998 onwards). Advice and support for Defra's 'Joint Action against Bluetongue' (JAB) campaign led to eradication of BTV-8 from the UK and then in northern Europe in 2008-2009. This achievement was recognised by an 'Innovator of the Year' award (2013) from BBSRC. Prof Mertens also played a central role (with colleagues from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford) in determination of the atomic structure of the bluetongue virus particle by x-ray crystallography, one of the largest single molecular structures determined to date.

Prof Mertens has survised over 25 Ph.D. students, has over 250 research publications, h-index of 51, h-index excluding self-citations 47

Prof Mertens currently holds a Chair of Virology at the University of Nottingham (part-time). He is a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, the University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte Brazil, and Luvas University at Hisar, in India. He is also a Jenner investigator, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Linnean Society, OIE Bluetongue Expert, and a member of the Reoviridae study Group for the International Committee for the Taxonomy of Viruses.

Prof Mertens Currently cordinates a large H20:20 project (6.3m Euro) for the EU involving 19 partner institutions in 11 countries across Europe, north ans sub-sharan Africa and the Middle East.

Expertise Summary

Professor Mertens has worked on the dsRNA viruses for over 42 years (as Ph.D. student, Post-doctoral Fellow and PI) . He is a bluetongue expert for the Office International ds Epizooties (OIE), and as such retains staff access and a senior Fellowship position, advising the EU and National Bluetonmgue reference laboratory at the Pirbright laboratory . He is a member of the defra expert panel advising on bluetongue viruses. He is a member of the bluetongue expert group for EFSA, was previously chair but still a member of the Reoviridae study group for the International Committee for the taxonomy of viruses.

Major areas of expertise include the molecular biology, replication, biochemistry, phylogenetic analysis, structural studies, diagnostic technolgies, taxonomy, vaccinology, and control strategies for bluetongue and the related orbiviruses.,

Recent Publications

• CALVO-PINILLA E, GUBBINS S, MERTENS P, ORTEGO J and CASTILLO-OLIVARES J, 2018. The immunogenicity of recombinant vaccines based on modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) viruses expressing African horse sickness virus VP2 antigens depends on the levels of expressed VP2 protein delivered to the host. Antiviral research. 154, 132-139 (In Press.)
• MAAN S, KUMAR A, GUPTA AK, DALAL A, CHAUDHARY D, GUPTA TK, BANSAL N, KUMAR V, BATRA K, SINDHU N, KUMAR A, MAHAJAN NK, MAAN NS and MERTENS PP, 2017. Concurrent infection of Bluetongue and Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus in small ruminants in Haryana State of India. Transboundary and emerging diseases. (In Press.)
• BRUGMAN, V. A., HERNANDEZ-TRIANA, L. M., ENGLAND, M. E., MEDLOCK, J. M., MERTENS, P. P. C., LOGAN, J. G., WILSON, A. J., FOOKS, A. R., JOHNSON, N. and CARPENTER, S., 2017. Blood-feeding patterns of native mosquitoes and insights into their potential role as pathogen vectors in the Thames estuary region of the United Kingdom PARASITES & VECTORS. 10,
• MORE, SIMON, BICOUT, DOMINIQUE, BOTNER, ANETTE, BUTTERWORTH, ANDREW, DEPNER, KLAUS, EDWARDS, SANDRA, GARIN-BASTUJI, BRUNO, GOOD, MARGARET, SCHMIDT, CHRISTIAN GORTAZAR, MICHEL, VIRGINIE, MIRANDA, MIGUEL ANGEL, NIELSEN, SOREN SAXMOSE, RAJ, MOHAN, SIHVONEN, LIISA, SPOOLDER, HANS, STEGEMAN, JAN AREND, THULKE, HANS-HERMANN, VELARDE, ANTONIO, WILLEBERG, PREBEN, WINCKLER, CHRISTOPH, MERTENS, PETER, SAVINI, GIOVANNI, ZIENTARA, STEPHAN, BROGLIA, ALESSANDRO, BALDINELLI, FRANCESCA, GOGIN, ANDREY, KOHNLE, LISA and CALISTRI, PAOLO, 2017. Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation(EU) No2016/429): bluetongue EFSA JOURNAL. 15(8),

• View all publications

• CALVO-PINILLA E, GUBBINS S, MERTENS P, ORTEGO J and CASTILLO-OLIVARES J, 2018. The immunogenicity of recombinant vaccines based on modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) viruses expressing African horse sickness virus VP2 antigens depends on the levels of expressed VP2 protein delivered to the host. Antiviral research. 154, 132-139 (In Press.)
• MAAN S, KUMAR A, GUPTA AK, DALAL A, CHAUDHARY D, GUPTA TK, BANSAL N, KUMAR V, BATRA K, SINDHU N, KUMAR A, MAHAJAN NK, MAAN NS and MERTENS PP, 2017. Concurrent infection of Bluetongue and Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus in small ruminants in Haryana State of India. Transboundary and emerging diseases. (In Press.)
• BRUGMAN, V. A., HERNANDEZ-TRIANA, L. M., ENGLAND, M. E., MEDLOCK, J. M., MERTENS, P. P. C., LOGAN, J. G., WILSON, A. J., FOOKS, A. R., JOHNSON, N. and CARPENTER, S., 2017. Blood-feeding patterns of native mosquitoes and insights into their potential role as pathogen vectors in the Thames estuary region of the United Kingdom PARASITES & VECTORS. 10,
• MORE, SIMON, BICOUT, DOMINIQUE, BOTNER, ANETTE, BUTTERWORTH, ANDREW, DEPNER, KLAUS, EDWARDS, SANDRA, GARIN-BASTUJI, BRUNO, GOOD, MARGARET, SCHMIDT, CHRISTIAN GORTAZAR, MICHEL, VIRGINIE, MIRANDA, MIGUEL ANGEL, NIELSEN, SOREN SAXMOSE, RAJ, MOHAN, SIHVONEN, LIISA, SPOOLDER, HANS, STEGEMAN, JAN AREND, THULKE, HANS-HERMANN, VELARDE, ANTONIO, WILLEBERG, PREBEN, WINCKLER, CHRISTOPH, MERTENS, PETER, SAVINI, GIOVANNI, ZIENTARA, STEPHAN, BROGLIA, ALESSANDRO, BALDINELLI, FRANCESCA, GOGIN, ANDREY, KOHNLE, LISA and CALISTRI, PAOLO, 2017. Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation(EU) No2016/429): bluetongue EFSA JOURNAL. 15(8),
• BRUGMAN VA, ENGLAND ME, STONER J, TUGWELL L, HARRUP LE, WILSON AJ, MEDLOCK JM, LOGAN JG, FOOKS AR, MERTENS PPC, JOHNSON N and CARPENTER S, 2017. How often do mosquitoes bite humans in southern England? A standardised summer trial at four sites reveals spatial, temporal and site-related variation in biting rates. Parasites & vectors. 10(1), 420
• JACQUOT M, NOMIKOU K, PALMARINI M, MERTENS P and BIEK R, 2017. Bluetongue virus spread in Europe is a consequence of climatic, landscape and vertebrate host factors as revealed by phylogeographic inference. Proceedings. Biological sciences. 284(1864),
• REDDY YV, SUSMITHA B, PATIL S, KRISHNAJYOTHI Y, PUTTY K, RAMAKRISHNA KV, SUNITHA G, DEVI BV, KAVITHA K, DEEPTHI B, KROVVIDI S, REDDY YN, REDDY GH, SINGH KP, MAAN NS, HEMADRI D, MAAN S, MERTENS PP, HEGDE NR and RAO PP, 2017. Isolation and evolutionary analysis of Australasian topotype of bluetongue virus serotype 4 from India. Transboundary and emerging diseases. (In Press.)
• MAAN, SUSHILA, MAAN, NARENDER SINGH, BELAGANAHALLI, MANJUNATHA N., POTGIETER, ABRAHAM C., KUMAR, VINAY, BATRA, KANISHT, WRIGHT, ISABEL M., KIRKLAND, PETER D. and MERTENS, PETER P. C., 2016. Development and Evaluation of Real Time RT-PCR Assays for Detection and Typing of Bluetongue Virus PLOS ONE. 11(9),
• MATOS AC, ROSA JC, NOMIKOU K, GUIMARÃES LL, COSTA ÉA, GUEDES MI, DRIEMEIER D, LOBATO ZI and MERTENS PP, 2016. Genome Sequence of Bluetongue virus Serotype 17 Isolated in Brazil in 2014. Genome announcements. 4(5),
• HEMADRI D, MAAN S, CHANDA MM, RAO PP, PUTTY K, KRISHNAJYOTHI Y, REDDY GH, KUMAR V, BATRA K, REDDY YV, MAAN NS, REDDY YN, SINGH KP, SHIVACHANDRA SB, HEGDE NR, RAHMAN H and MERTENS PP, 2016. Dual Infection with Bluetongue Virus Serotypes and First-Time Isolation of Serotype 5 in India. Transboundary and emerging diseases. (In Press.)
• RYDEVIK, GUSTAF, INNOCENT, GILES T, MARION, GLENN, DAVIDSON, ROSS S, WHITE, PIRAN C L, BILLINIS, CHARALAMBOS, BARROW, PAUL, MERTENS, PETER P C, GAVIER-WIDEN, DOLORES and HUTCHINGS, MICHAEL R, 2016. Using Combined Diagnostic Test Results to Hindcast Trends of Infection from Cross-Sectional Data. PLoS computational biology. 12(7), e1004901