Skip to main content
The Centre for Global Infectious Disease
iStock image of a hookworm

Welcoming Dr Emma Briggs to CGID

19 March 2026
Share page:
Dr Emma Briggs

Dr Emma Briggs is a molecular parasitologist specializing in Trypanosoma species, the protozoan parasites responsible for three Neglected Tropical Diseases: Human African Trypanosomiasis, Leishmaniasis, and Chagas Disease. She holds a Ph.D. in molecular parasitology from the University of Glasgow, where her research focused on the unusual genome of Trypanosoma brucei and its complex antigenic variation system.

During her Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship, hosted by the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, Emma applied single‑cell transcriptomics to study trypanosome species. Her work investigated the mechanisms driving parasite differentiation, particularly the switch between proliferating and cell‑cycle–arrested forms, which plays a crucial role in parasite survival, transmission efficiency, and host interactions.

Now an Research Fellow at Newcastle University, Emma leads a research group focused on:

  • Dissecting molecular signalling networks and protein interactions that regulate cell‑cycle transitions in trypanosomes.
  • Mapping the spatial and temporal distribution of proliferative and arrested forms within mammalian hosts and insect vectors.
  • Exploring how these adaptations influence transmission, infection dynamics, and treatment resistance.

 

Her group employs genetic editing, fluorescent microscopy, flow cytometry, proteomics, and single‑cell transcriptomics to unravel key aspects of Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania spp. biology. By combining experimental and computational approaches, they aim to uncover mechanisms underlying parasite adaptation and treatment failure and to identify new routes to improve disease outcomes.