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Peer-Reviewed Publications in International Scientific Journals

For a complete list of my peer-reviewed scientific publications click here.

For redirection to a summary of books and monographs that I have either authored or edited, please click here.

Contributions to viral hepatitis
I was among the first to recognise that hepatitis B virus continued to circulate in the blood despite the presence of anti-HBe antibodies, then regarded as signalling recovery (ref 1). The structural model of hepatitis B surface protein (ref 6) is widely acknowledged as a major contribution and is frequently reproduced in reviews and textbooks. I pioneered the use of synthetic peptides for the analysis of antibodies (ref 4) and the development of peptide libraries for elucidating structure-function relationships (ref 8). My work on vaccine delivery systems showed that immunogenicity could be enhanced using either micelles2 or ISCOMS (ref 5). My laboratory successfully developed a synthetic peptide immunogen based on the use of controlled release polymers (ref 9). Working with colleagues in The Gambia, my colleagues and I have shown that hepatitis B virus variants are not associated with a decline in vaccine efficacy, a finding of importance for childhood immunisation (refs 7, 12).

Contributions to arenavirus research and other diseases
As a result of work in the USA, I was among the first to test the use of monoclonal antibodies for field diagnosis of viral haemorrhagic fevers in South America. The electron microscopy studies on arenaviruses remain the definitive study on the structural organisation of these agents (ref 3).

Contributions to farmed animal diseases
Recently my research has extended into other diseases, most notably rotavirus infections of farm animals and spring vireamia virus infection of fish. Particularly significant is a study that demonstrates rotavirus circulating in one species can pose a significant disease risk to another by the emergence of a pathogenic reassortment (ref 10). A study of DNA immunisation has demonstrated the feasibility of DNA immunogens for prophylactic treatment of farmed carp (ref 11).

  1. Howard C.R. Zanetti A., Thal S. and Zuckerman A.J. (1978). Viral antigens and antibodies in hepatitis B infection.  Journal of Clinical Pathology 31:681-687.
  2. Skelly J., Howard C.R. and Zuckerman A.J. (1981). Hepatitis B polypeptide vaccine preparation in micelle form.  Nature 290:51-54.
  3. Young P.R. and Howard C.R. (1983). Fine structure analysis of Pichinde virus nucleocapsids.  Journal of General Virology 64:833-842.
  4. Thanavala Y.M., Brown S.E., Howard C.R., Roitt I.M. and Steward M.W. (1986). A surrogate hepatitis B virus antigenic epitope represented by a synthetic peptide and an internal image anti-idiotype antibody.  Journal of Experimental Medicine 164:227-236.
  5. Howard C.R., Sundquist B., Allan J., Brown S.E., Chen S-H. and Morein B. (1987).  Preparation and properties of immune-stimulating complexes ('iscoms') containing hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).  Journal of General Virology, 68:2281-2289.
  6. Stirk H.J., Thornton J. and Howard C.R. (1992). A topological model of hepatitis B surface antigen.  Intervirology, 33:148-158.
  7. Fortuin M., Karthigesu V., Allison L., Howard C.R., Hoare S., Mendy M. and Whittle H. (1994) Break-through infections and identification of a viral  mutant in Gambian children immunised with hepatitis B vaccine. Journal of Infectious Diseases 169:1374-1376.
  8. D’Mello F., Partidos C.D., Steward M.W., Howard C.R. (1997). Definition of the primary structure of hepatitis B virus (HBV) pre-S hepatocyte binding domain using random peptide libraries. Virology 237:319-326.
  9. Moynihan, J.S., Blair, J., Coombes, A., D’Mello, F. and Howard, C.R. (2002) Enhanced immunogenicity of a hepatitis B virus pepetide vaccine using oligosaccharide ester derivative microparticles. Vaccine 20:1870-1876.
  10. El-Attar, L., Dhaliwal, W., Howard, C.R. and Bridger, J.C. (2002) Rotavirus cross-species pathogenicity: Molecular characterisation of a bovine rotavirus pathogenic for pigs. Virology 291:172-182.
  11. Kanellos, T., Sylvester, I.D., D’Mello,F.,  Howard, C.R., Mackie, A., Dixon, P.F., Chang, K.C., Ramstad, A., Midtylyng, P.J. and Russell, P.H. (2006). DNA vaccination can protect Cyprinus Carpio against spring viraemia of carp virus. Vaccine 24:4927-4933.
  12. Mendy, M., D’Mello, F., Kanellos, T., Oliver, S., Whittle, H. and Howard, C.R. (2008). Envelope protein variability among HBV-infected asymptomatic carriers and immunisaed children with breakthrough infections. Journal of Medical Virology 80:1537-1546.




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