Professor Bridget Wills
Contact information
Podcast interview
Dengue diagnosis and management
The majority of people infected with the dengue virus experience a flu-like febrile illness, but in a small proportion of patients, particularly children, the virus causes the blood vessels to become leaky which can induce shock and lead to death. Improved diagnosis and understanding of the disease process enable better outcomes for patients with severe dengue.
Research groups
Bridget Wills
Professor of Tropical Medicine
Bridget Wills is Professor of Tropical Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Paediatrics at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford. She trained in paediatrics and infectious diseases in the UK and worked at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, based at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, for more than 20 years before returning to the UK in October 2018.
Bridget’s clinical research focuses primarily on dengue and incorporates studies designed to improve dengue diagnosis and risk prediction for severe disease, randomised intervention trials aiming to improve dengue management, and research investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the major complications of infection. Human challenge studies are now being explored as a novel approach to advance the development of dengue vaccine candidates, and she has recently received grant funding to explore the ethical, legal and regulatory issues surrounding execution of dengue challenge studies in endemic settings like Viet Nam.
In 2012 she was awarded the Ho Chi Minh City Medal by the People’s Committee of HCMC, and in 2018 she was awarded the Sir Rickard Christophers Medal by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Bridget chairs the NDM-CGHR EDIA working group and is a member of the NDM EDI Committee.
COLLABORATIONS
Professors Tran Diep Tuan and Do Van Dung, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Professor Eng Eong Ooi, Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
Professor Hannah Clapham, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore
Professor Thomas Jaenisch, Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado, USA
Recent publications
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Kinetics of NS1 and anti-NS1 IgG following dengue infection reveals likely early formation of immune complexes in secondary infected patients.
Muller DA. et al, (2025), Scientific reports, 15
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Dengue viremia kinetics and effects on platelet count and clinical outcomes: An analysis of 2340 patients from Vietnam
Vuong NL. et al, (2024), eLife, 13
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Exploring attitudes to research involving human subjects among Vietnamese university students: establishing a prospective longitudinal mixed-methods student cohort at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City
Pham -Tram V. et al, (2024), Wellcome Open Research, 8, 473 - 473
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Kinetics of cardiovascular and inflammatory biomarkers in paediatric dengue shock syndrome
Chanh HQ. et al, (2024), Oxford Open Immunology, 5
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Fourth Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) meeting, CHIM regulatory issues, May 24, 2023.
Cavaleri M. et al, (2024), Biologicals : journal of the International Association of Biological Standardization