Dr Matt Berriman

Matt leads a programme in the genomics of Neglected Tropical Disease parasites, including helminths such as Schistomosomes, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, threadworms and whipworms.

Matt graduated in 1994 from the University of Manchester with a degree in biochemistry.

He moved to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine at the University of Dundee to undertake a PhD with Professor Alan Fairlamb, biochemically characterising a putative drug target from the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. After being awarded a Wellcome Trust Travelling Prize Fellowship, Matt moved to the laboratory of Professor George Cross at Rockefeller University in New York to study Trypanosome telomeres. At the end of 2000, he joined the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute as a Senior Computer Biologist in the Pathogen Sequencing Unit. There, he analysed and annotated the genomes of Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei. From 2003, Matt took over the leadership of more than 20 eukaryotic pathogen sequencing projects, primarily focused on the medically important Apicomplexan and Kinetoplastid protozoa, which include malaria parasites and trypanosomes, respectively. Matt joined the faculty in 2008 and is leading a programme in the genomics of Neglected Tropical Disease parasites, which include parasitic helminths such as Schistomosomes, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, threadworms and whipworms.

Selected Publications

• Plasmodium falciparum var gene expression is modified by host immunity.

  Warimwe GM, Keane TM, Fegan G, Musyoki JN, Newton CR, Pain A, Berriman M, Marsh K and Bull PC

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2009;106;51;21801-6

  PUBMED: 20018734; PMC: 2792160; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0907590106

• Comparative genomics of the fungal pathogens Candida dubliniensis and Candida albicans.

  Jackson AP, Gamble JA, Yeomans T, Moran GP, Saunders D, Harris D, Aslett M, Barrell JF, Butler G, Citiulo F, Coleman DC, de Groot PW, Goodwin TJ, Quail MA, McQuillan J, Munro CA, Pain A, Poulter RT, Rajandream MA, Renauld H, Spiering MJ, Tivey A, Gow NA, Barrell B, Sullivan DJ and Berriman M

  Genome research 2009;19;12;2231-44

  PUBMED: 19745113; PMC: 2792176; DOI: 10.1101/gr.097501.109

• The genome of the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni.

  Berriman M, Haas BJ, LoVerde PT, Wilson RA, Dillon GP, Cerqueira GC, Mashiyama ST, Al-Lazikani B, Andrade LF, Ashton PD, Aslett MA, Bartholomeu DC, Blandin G, Caffrey CR, Coghlan A, Coulson R, Day TA, Delcher A, DeMarco R, Djikeng A, Eyre T, Gamble JA, Ghedin E, Gu Y, Hertz-Fowler C, Hirai H, Hirai Y, Houston R, Ivens A, Johnston DA, Lacerda D, Macedo CD, McVeigh P, Ning Z, Oliveira G, Overington JP, Parkhill J, Pertea M, Pierce RJ, Protasio AV, Quail MA, Rajandream MA, Rogers J, Sajid M, Salzberg SL, Stanke M, Tivey AR, White O, Williams DL, Wortman J, Wu W, Zamanian M, Zerlotini A, Fraser-Liggett CM, Barrell BG and El-Sayed NM

  Nature 2009;460;7253;352-8

  PUBMED: 19606141; PMC: 2756445; DOI: 10.1038/nature08160

• Artemis and ACT: viewing, annotating and comparing sequences stored in a relational database.

  Carver T, Berriman M, Tivey A, Patel C, Böhme U, Barrell BG, Parkhill J and Rajandream MA

  Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) 2008;24;23;2672-6

  PUBMED: 18845581; PMC: 2606163; DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btn529

• Genetics of mating and sex determination in the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus.

  Redman E, Grillo V, Saunders G, Packard E, Jackson F, Berriman M and Gilleard JS

  Genetics 2008;180;4;1877-87

  PUBMED: 18854587; PMC: 2600929; DOI: 10.1534/genetics.108.094623

• Genomic-scale prioritization of drug targets: the TDR Targets database.

  Agüero F, Al-Lazikani B, Aslett M, Berriman M, Buckner FS, Campbell RK, Carmona S, Carruthers IM, Chan AW, Chen F, Crowther GJ, Doyle MA, Hertz-Fowler C, Hopkins AL, McAllister G, Nwaka S, Overington JP, Pain A, Paolini GV, Pieper U, Ralph SA, Riechers A, Roos DS, Sali A, Shanmugam D, Suzuki T, Van Voorhis WC and Verlinde CL

  Nature reviews. Drug discovery 2008;7;11;900-7

  PUBMED: 18927591; PMC: 3184002; DOI: 10.1038/nrd2684

• The genome of the simian and human malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi.

  Pain A, Böhme U, Berry AE, Mungall K, Finn RD, Jackson AP, Mourier T, Mistry J, Pasini EM, Aslett MA, Balasubrammaniam S, Borgwardt K, Brooks K, Carret C, Carver TJ, Cherevach I, Chillingworth T, Clark TG, Galinski MR, Hall N, Harper D, Harris D, Hauser H, Ivens A, Janssen CS, Keane T, Larke N, Lapp S, Marti M, Moule S, Meyer IM, Ormond D, Peters N, Sanders M, Sanders S, Sargeant TJ, Simmonds M, Smith F, Squares R, Thurston S, Tivey AR, Walker D, White B, Zuiderwijk E, Churcher C, Quail MA, Cowman AF, Turner CM, Rajandream MA, Kocken CH, Thomas AW, Newbold CI, Barrell BG and Berriman M

  Nature 2008;455;7214;799-803

  PUBMED: 18843368; PMC: 2656934; DOI: 10.1038/nature07306

• Genome-wide discovery and verification of novel structured RNAs in Plasmodium falciparum.

  Mourier T, Carret C, Kyes S, Christodoulou Z, Gardner PP, Jeffares DC, Pinches R, Barrell B, Berriman M, Griffiths-Jones S, Ivens A, Newbold C and Pain A

  Genome research 2008;18;2;281-92

  PUBMED: 18096748; PMC: 2203626; DOI: 10.1101/gr.6836108

• Insights into the genome sequence of a free-living Kinetoplastid: Bodo saltans (Kinetoplastida: Euglenozoa).

  Jackson AP, Quail MA and Berriman M

  BMC genomics 2008;9;594

  PUBMED: 19068121; PMC: 2621209; DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-9-594

• Telomeric expression sites are highly conserved in Trypanosoma brucei.

  Hertz-Fowler C, Figueiredo LM, Quail MA, Becker M, Jackson A, Bason N, Brooks K, Churcher C, Fahkro S, Goodhead I, Heath P, Kartvelishvili M, Mungall K, Harris D, Hauser H, Sanders M, Saunders D, Seeger K, Sharp S, Taylor JE, Walker D, White B, Young R, Cross GA, Rudenko G, Barry JD, Louis EJ and Berriman M

  PloS one 2008;3;10;e3527

  PUBMED: 18953401; PMC: 2567434; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003527

• Comparative genomic analysis of three Leishmania species that cause diverse human disease.

  Peacock CS, Seeger K, Harris D, Murphy L, Ruiz JC, Quail MA, Peters N, Adlem E, Tivey A, Aslett M, Kerhornou A, Ivens A, Fraser A, Rajandream MA, Carver T, Norbertczak H, Chillingworth T, Hance Z, Jagels K, Moule S, Ormond D, Rutter S, Squares R, Whitehead S, Rabbinowitsch E, Arrowsmith C, White B, Thurston S, Bringaud F, Baldauf SL, Faulconbridge A, Jeffares D, Depledge DP, Oyola SO, Hilley JD, Brito LO, Tosi LR, Barrell B, Cruz AK, Mottram JC, Smith DF and Berriman M

  Nature genetics 2007;39;7;839-47

  PUBMED: 17572675; PMC: 2592530; DOI: 10.1038/ng2053

• Genome variation and evolution of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

  Jeffares DC, Pain A, Berry A, Cox AV, Stalker J, Ingle CE, Thomas A, Quail MA, Siebenthall K, Uhlemann AC, Kyes S, Krishna S, Newbold C, Dermitzakis ET and Berriman M

  Nature genetics 2007;39;1;120-5

  PUBMED: 17159978; PMC: 2663918; DOI: 10.1038/ng1931

• The genome of the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei.

  Berriman M, Ghedin E, Hertz-Fowler C, Blandin G, Renauld H, Bartholomeu DC, Lennard NJ, Caler E, Hamlin NE, Haas B, Böhme U, Hannick L, Aslett MA, Shallom J, Marcello L, Hou L, Wickstead B, Alsmark UC, Arrowsmith C, Atkin RJ, Barron AJ, Bringaud F, Brooks K, Carrington M, Cherevach I, Chillingworth TJ, Churcher C, Clark LN, Corton CH, Cronin A, Davies RM, Doggett J, Djikeng A, Feldblyum T, Field MC, Fraser A, Goodhead I, Hance Z, Harper D, Harris BR, Hauser H, Hostetler J, Ivens A, Jagels K, Johnson D, Johnson J, Jones K, Kerhornou AX, Koo H, Larke N, Landfear S, Larkin C, Leech V, Line A, Lord A, Macleod A, Mooney PJ, Moule S, Martin DM, Morgan GW, Mungall K, Norbertczak H, Ormond D, Pai G, Peacock CS, Peterson J, Quail MA, Rabbinowitsch E, Rajandream MA, Reitter C, Salzberg SL, Sanders M, Schobel S, Sharp S, Simmonds M, Simpson AJ, Tallon L, Turner CM, Tait A, Tivey AR, Van Aken S, Walker D, Wanless D, Wang S, White B, White O, Whitehead S, Woodward J, Wortman J, Adams MD, Embley TM, Gull K, Ullu E, Barry JD, Fairlamb AH, Opperdoes F, Barrell BG, Donelson JE, Hall N, Fraser CM, Melville SE and El-Sayed NM

  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2005;309;5733;416-22

  PUBMED: 16020726; DOI: 10.1126/science.1112642

Related links

• Global health research