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“Life has been very good to me. The best things were having Lawrence and Cecile Carrington as my parents, falling in love with my husband Axel Kravatzky and becoming a mother to Lukas. Academically I would say being accepted as a graduate student by the renowned retrovirologist Professor Robin Weiss and more recently the Commonwealth fellowship that allowed me to spend 6 months at Oxford with Professor Edward Holmes. I would like my legacy to be the graduate research students I supervise, and the students I hope they will eventually mentor. I want to leave behind individuals with successful careers in research and teaching who are respected within the international research community.”

Dr. Christine Carrington

SENIOR LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF PRE-CLINICAL SCIENCE
FACULTY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
ST. AUGUSTINE CAMPUS, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Tel: (868) 645-2640 ext 4634 • Email: Christine.Carrington@sta.uwi.edu

PROFILE

Dr. Christine Carrington graduated from St. Augustine Girls’ High School in Trinidad in 1986, and gained a national scholarship to pursue a BSc in Biotechnology at King’s College, University of London. After graduating with first class honours, Dr. Carrington joined Robin Weiss’ team at the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London. Under Robin and Thomas Schulz, she earned a PhD in Molecular Virology in 1994 and postdoctoral experience. Dr. Carrington joined UWI as a Lecturer in 1996 with a Wellcome Research Development Award to establish her research. She soon moved from retroviruses to dengue – an important emerging pathogen. The work on genetic factors associated with severe dengue led to studies on human genetics but her real interest was viral genetics. In 2004, Dr. Carrington was awarded a Commonwealth Fellowship and spent six months in the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford. Her host and mentor Edward Holmes introduced her to molecular evolution and computational biology, and cemented her passion for virus evolution and emerging infections. Dr. Carrington’s work now involves using phylogenetics and other computational biology techniques to understand these areas. On her return in 2005, Dr. Carrington was promoted to Senior Lecturer and was appointed Deputy Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in 2007.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

In recent decades there has been an upsurge in so-called ‘emerging’ infections. Emergence may be precipitated by genetic changes that affect pathogen transmissibility, host range and virulence. Viruses that have their origins in animal populations account for most infectious diseases in humans and evolutionary changes that facilitate host switching evidently play a major role in their increasing frequency. Dr. Carrington’s interests lie in understanding evolutionary and ecological factors involved in the emergence, spread and maintenance of these viruses in human populations. Her current work focuses on RNA viruses, especially dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses, and more recently coronaviruses in bats.