I work on viral pathogens of amphibians. My interests centre on determinants of virulence and host range, emergence of novel pathogens, and human interventions with knock on effects for infectious disease dynamics.

Since 2009 I have been working on dsDNA viruses (genus Ranavirus, family Iridoviridae) responsible for severe disease, mass-mortality and declines in amphibian hosts. I have employed a range of complementary approaches to study emergence of European ranaviruses including spatial epidemiology, candidate gene phylogenetics, and whole genome sequencing and de novo assembly. I am currently using high throughput sequence datasets to study virus emergence and evolution as well as host responses to exposure. I am also interested in developing protocols to enable more sensitive, more widespread and non-invasive sampling and diagnostics to enable improved disease surveillance and research opportunities.

My work includes fieldwork at sites of disease outbreaks, a range of core molecular biology techniques in processing samples, and diverse computational approaches to data analysis. I work at the interface of veterinary science, population genetics, and bioinformatics and collaborate effectively with experts from these fields to research questions of conservation and evolutionary importance and interest. I have ongoing collaborative projects in Costa Rica, Spain, China and the UK.