Dr Mara Rocchi

mara.rocchi@moredun.ac.uk

Moredun Research Institute
Pentlands Science Park
Bush Loan
Penicuik
Midlothian EH26 0PZ

Biography

I graduated from the University of Milan in 1990 (Veterinary Medicine and Surgery) then obtained a PhD investigating the pathogenesis of experimental scrapie in 1994. I joined Moredun in 2000, after 4 years at the International Livestock Research Institute of Nairobi, Kenya, working on the immune responses to ruminant tropical protozoan diseases. From 2000 to 2014 I worked on a number of immunological projects, including analysing disease, vaccine and pregnancy related humoral and cellular responses.

Since 2014 I have been heading the Virus Surveillance Unit, which performs and develops diagnostic test in support of the Scottish Government Veterinary Surveillance Scheme.

ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0276-8040

Professional Specialism / PhD Topic

PhD in TSEs pathogenesis; strong interest in host immunological responses to intracellular pathogens with a focus on diagnostic assays. Major interest in syndromic diagnostics.
Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Flow Cytometry Manager
Member of the British Society for Immunology
Biological Safety Advisor and Biosafety Professional Level 1
LIMS Administrator
Home office (ASPA) licence holder

Current Research

Previous Research Projects

First detection of a new variant of a rabbit lagovirus in Scotland
Diagnosis of tick borne disease in Scottish livestock, wildlife and ticks
Development of a multiplex molecular test for Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex
Aetiological studies and establishment of a calf bone marrow stem cell culture system for the study of Bovine Neonatal Pancytopaenia
Analysis of TLR expression by ovine g/d T cells.
Definition of the protective activity of a fraction of Chlamydophila abortus

Selected Key Publications

Rocchi, M., Ballingall, K., MacHugh, N.D., Mckeever, D. 2006. The kinetics of Theileria parva infection and lymphocyte transformation in vitro International Journal for Parasitology 36(7):771 - 778.
Rocchi, M., Anderson, M., Eaton, S., Hamilton, S., Finlayson, J., Steele, P., Barclay, G., Chianini, F. 2007. Three-colour flow cytometric detection of PrP in ovine leukocytes Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 116(3-4):172 - 181.
Eaton, S.L., Rocchi, M., Gonzalez, L., Hamilton, S., Finlayson, J., Sales, J., Jeffrey, M., Steele, P.J., Dagleish, M.P., Rodger, S.M., Reid, H.W., Chianini, F. 2007. Immunological differences between susceptible and resistant sheep during the preclinical phase of scrapie infection Journal of General Virology 88(4):1384 - 1391.
Griebel, P., Entrican, G., Rocchi, M., Beskorwayne, T., Davis, W. 2007. Cross-reactivity of mAbs to human CD antigens with sheep leukocytes Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 119(1-2):115 - 122.
Rocchi, M., Ballingall, K.T., Ngugi, D., MacHugh, N.D., McKeever, D.J. 2008. A rapid and sensitive intracellular flow cytometric assay to identify Theileria parva infection within target cells Parasitology 135(02):.
Wattegedera, S.R., Rocchi, M., Sales, J., Howard, C., Hope, J., Entrican, G. 2008. Antigen-specific peripheral immune responses are unaltered during normal pregnancy in sheep Journal of Reproductive Immunology 77(2):171 - 178.
Rocchi, M., Wattegedera, S.R., Meridiani, I., Entrican, G. 2009. Protective adaptive immunity to Chlamydophila abortus infection and control of ovine enzootic abortion (OEA) Veterinary Microbiology 135(1-2):112 - 121.
Dagleish, M.P., Clark, J.J., Robson, C., Tucker, M., Orton, R.J., Rocchi, M.S. 2018. A fatal Case of Louping-ill in a dog: immunolocalization and full genome sequencing of the virus Journal of Comparative Pathology 165(E-publication 19/10/2018):23 - 32.
Melzi, E., Rocchi, M.S., Entrican, G., Caporale, M., Palmarini, M. 2018. Immunophenotyping of sheep paraffin-embedded peripheral lymph nodes Frontiers in Immunology 9():2892.
Livingstone, M., Wheelhouse, N., Ensor, H., Rocchi, M.S., Maley, S., Aitchison, K., Wattegedera, S., Wilson, K., Sait, M., Siarkou, V., Vretou, E., Entrican, G., Dagleish, M., Longbottom, D. 2017. Pathogenic outcome following experimental infection of sheep with Chlamydia abortus variant strains LLG and POS PLOS ONE 12(5):e0177653.
Melzi, E., Caporale, M., Rocchi, M.S., Martín, V., Gamino, V., di Provvido, A., Marruchella, G., Entrican, G., Sevilla, N., Palmarini, M. 2016. Follicular dendritic cell disruption as a novel mechanism of virus-induced immunosuppression Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(41):E6238 - E6247.
Smith, V., Finlayson, J., Livingstone, M., Aitchison, K., Flockhart, A., Wheelhouse, N., Wattegedera, S., Rocchi, M.S., Entrican, G., Longbottom, D., Chianini, F. 2016. Distribution of Chlamydia abortus in placentas from naturally and experimentally infected sheep Journal of Comparative Pathology 154(1):72.
Baily, J.L., Dagleish, M.P., Graham, M., Maley, M., Rocchi, M.S. 2014. RHDV variant 2 presence detected in Scotland Veterinary Record 174(16):411 - 411.
McNeilly, T.N., Rocchi, M., Brown, J.K., Frew, D., Nisbet, A.J., Wattegedera, S., McIntyre, J., Huntley, J.F., Matthews, J.B. 2013. Suppression of ovine lymphocyte activation by Teladorsagia circumcincta larval excretory-secretory products Veterinary Research 44():.

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Dr Mara Rocchi

Biography

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