Internal talk by Prof Oliver Pybus

Virus
Oliver Pybus is Professor of Evolution and Infectious Disease at the University of Oxford, and is globally renowned for his work on applying phylogenetic tools to viruses, and most recently has been at the forefront of analyses into the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Where next for virus genomic epidemiology and phylodynamics?

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen virus genomic epidemiology transformed from a specialist and often theoretical discipline into a widely-recognised applied tool for public health with a global reach. Additionally, the pandemic has seen a 1000-fold increase in the number of virus genomes available for analysis, with genomes being generated and shared in near real-time by labs and surveillance centres on every continent, which has led to the development of entirely new analytical methods, computational tools, and ways of collaborating. In this talk I will briefly review some recent applications of virus genomic epidemiology and phylodynamics to SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses, and then consider possible future directions for the field and applications of phylodynamics beyond infectious disease