Gavin James Smith
Faculty & Department
Joint Appointments
Professor, Office Of Research, Integrative Sciences and Engineering
Programme Director, Office of Research, Duke-NUS Medical School
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Bachelor of Science Hons Class 2A, University of Melbourne, Australia
Bachelor of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Bio
Professor Gavin Smith is Director of the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School. He received his primary training in ecology and evolution at The University of Melbourne and earned his PhD from The University of Hong Kong, where he also undertook his post-doctoral training in the Department of Microbiology before relocating to Singapore to start his lab. His research focuses on the ecology and evolution of zoonotic viruses and the genomic epidemiology of human respiratory pathogens. His lab conducts human and animal disease surveillance across Asia in collaboration with universities, hospitals, government and intergovernmental research institutions (including UN agencies), NGOs and industry partners. The ultimate goal of his research is to better understand virus ecosystems in Asia, particularly at the animal-human interface, to inform and enhance disease control. His lab is currently investigating human interfaces with bats, rodents, and swine in Cambodia and Laos, pteropodid fruit bats and livestock in the Philippines, and bats and camels in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. A key component of his work is engaging with regional scientists to build local research and technical capacity for disease detection, prevention, and control. His team provides training in bat-borne virus surveillance and evolutionary analysis to scientists from countries across Asia. They have also supported Kazakhstan Government laboratories in implementing MERS-CoV surveillance in camels and bats. Prof Smith also works with the FAO to strengthen bioinformatics capacity in animal health laboratories across ASEAN.
Contact Information
I am broadly interested in the ecology, genetic and antigenic evolution, vaccine strain selection, molecular diagnostics, pathogen discovery, population dynamics, molecular epidemiology, and interspecies transmission of infectious diseases. My research aims to understand viral disease ecosystems in Asia, including at the animal-human interface, to inform and enhance disease control. While I primarily work on influenza and coronaviruses, my lab studies a wide range of respiratory and enteric viruses. I conduct human and animal disease surveillance throughout Asia via an extensive network of collaborators. The gathered information is used in large-scale computational analyses to generate hypotheses on the role of virus mutations on their phenotype, such as fitness or virulence. We then test these hypotheses in the laboratory using tissue culture and animal models.
My work has played a role in global efforts to control influenza outbreaks by providing genetic analysis to expert committees formulating policy in this area, including pre-pandemic vaccine strain selection. My group has tracked the spread and characterized the evolution of H5, H6 and H9 viruses throughout Asia. We described the swine origins of the H1N1/2009 pandemic virus and described the dynamic changes of influenza A viruses in swine, showing that reassortment was linked in antigenic change in swine influenza viruses. My group has also made a significant contribution to determining the global migration and population structure of human seasonal and swine influenza viruses. My laboratory also uses evolutionary analysis combined with reverse genetics to investigate virus mutations that are responsible for the epidemiological fitness of influenza and parainfluenza viruses in humans and a variety of animal hosts. In addition, my team conducts disease surveillance in humans, livestock, and wildlife to characterize the risk of spillover. We are currently studying human interfaces with bats and rodents in Cambodia and Laos, pteropodid fruit bats in the Philippines, and camels in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Another key part of my work has been in engaging scientists in the region to assist in developing local research and technical capacity for disease detection, prevention, and control. My team provides training on bat borne virus surveillance and evolutionary analysis to government scientists from countries across Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, and have assisted Kazakhstan Government laboratories in implementing MERS-CoV surveillance in camels and bats. I also work with the FAO to build bioinformatics capacity in animal health laboratories in ASEAN.
My research is highly collaborative and involves working with clinicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, ecologists, ornithologists, mathematicians and computer scientists to integrate diverse experimental approaches. My work’s unifying theme is understanding the underlying processes of disease emergence and the interaction between host and pathogen. We conduct research combining ideas from different fields, including evolutionary genetics, virology, ecology, and infectious disease epidemiology. My team performs human and animal disease surveillance, isolates and characterizes the pathogen, and then conducts large-scale analyses to generate hypotheses that we test using tissue culture and animal models. I work primarily on influenza and coronaviruses but also study many other respiratory viruses and emerging infectious diseases. Another vital part of my work is engaging with scientists across Asia to assist in developing local research and technical capacity for disease detection, prevention and control.
My Mentoring Style
How would you describe your mentoring style in terms of freedom given to your students?
Selecting Research Topics?
How do you guide your PhD students in selecting research topics?
Setbacks / Challenges
How do you handle setbacks or challenges faced by your PhD students?
Feedback
How do you give feedback on your students’ thesis drafts and progress?
Consultation Frequency
How often do you typically meet your PhD students one-on-one for consultation?