Anne Wyllie is a Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. She leads a research group dedicated to validating and optimizing saliva as a sample type to support the low-cost detection of infectious and chronic diseases. Anne obtained her Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology from Utrecht University in 2016, under the mentorship of Krzysztof Trzcinski. Her doctoral research revisited saliva as a sample type, demonstrating its potential for enhancing the molecular surveillance of pneumococcal carriage across all ages, particularly in older adults. Since then, Anne has extensively investigated how various factors - such as collection, transport, storage, and serotyping methods - affect the detection of pneumococcus in polymicrobial samples.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Anne applied her expertise in molecular diagnostics and sample comparison studies to lead numerous studies, proving the reliability of saliva for detecting SARS-CoV-2. She has since expanded this work to other respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV, and human metapneumovirus. Leveraging these efforts, Anne’s current research interests include the use of saliva to study the (co-)infection dynamics of respiratory pathogen, the impact of viral infections on pneumococcal carriage and transmission, and the characterization of non-pneumococcal mitis group Streptococci present in the oral cavity. Through all this, Anne has become recognized for her collaborative spirit and her dedication to advising colleagues globally on the challenges and benefits of using saliva for the detection of respiratory pathogens.