My research focuses on using a combination of next-gen sequencing, bioinformatics, and linear and machine learning models to understand patterns underlying the behaviour of viruses in ecosystems.
I completed my PhD between 2020 and 2024 under the supervision of Simon Babayan, Daniel Streicker and Nardus Mollentze in the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow. During this work, I focused on characterising cross-species transmission and biotic drivers of viral diversity and community composition in opportunistic field samples and public data on marine mammals. I also worked on applying machine learning and data synthesis to predicting viral reservoirs.
I am currently working with Sarah Hill and Jayna Raghwani at the Royal Veterinary College, London, funded by a Wellcome Trust Transition Award and the Genomics for Animal and Plant Disease Consortium (GAPDC; DEFRA). In this post, I continue to apply viral genomics and computational biology to explore how ecological, environmental and demographic factors shape viral transmission, currently focused on commercially important and ecologically threatened fish species.