Rhys Parry
@rhyshparry.bsky.social
Virologist at the University of Queensland. #virology #virusevolution #rnavirology
Reposted by Rhys Parry
A little over 12 months ago, 150 scientists from 16 countries gathered in Geelong to reflect on the past 30 years of henipavirus research, current developments and future directions. The outcomes of that meeting are detailed in our recent publication in EID below.
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
Integrating Prevention and Response at the Crossroads of Henipavirus Preparedness, Hendra@30 Conference, 2024
Hendra@30 Henipavirus Conference, 2024
wwwnc.cdc.gov
February 4, 2026 at 6:45 AM
A little over 12 months ago, 150 scientists from 16 countries gathered in Geelong to reflect on the past 30 years of henipavirus research, current developments and future directions. The outcomes of that meeting are detailed in our recent publication in EID below.
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Thanks to a post on iNaturalist, and a series of serendipitous events, an Australian flowering plant thought extinct for almost 60 years has been rediscovered.
au.news.yahoo.com/photo-leads-...
au.news.yahoo.com/photo-leads-...
Photo leads to rediscovery of Aussie species plant almost 60 years after 'extinction'
The incredible find was only possible due to a series of 'serendipitous' events. Find out more.
au.news.yahoo.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Thanks to a post on iNaturalist, and a series of serendipitous events, an Australian flowering plant thought extinct for almost 60 years has been rediscovered.
au.news.yahoo.com/photo-leads-...
au.news.yahoo.com/photo-leads-...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
I'm excited that our review paper on superinfection exclusion in insect-specific flaviviruses is now published. This comprehensive review summarizes the experimental data on the ability of different ISFs to cause SIE and suggests future pathways in SIE research: www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/18...
www.mdpi.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:53 AM
I'm excited that our review paper on superinfection exclusion in insect-specific flaviviruses is now published. This comprehensive review summarizes the experimental data on the ability of different ISFs to cause SIE and suggests future pathways in SIE research: www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/18...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Global solidarity in genomic surveillance improves early detection of acute respiratory virus threats. "Importantly, these benefits cannot be attained by siloed expansion in countries that already possess strong capacity." Well done to the team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Global solidarity in genomic surveillance improves early detection of acute respiratory virus threats - Nature Communications
Respiratory virus genomic surveillance output is unevenly distributed globally. Here, the authors show that addressing this imbalance could substantially reduce the time to first detection o...
www.nature.com
January 16, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Global solidarity in genomic surveillance improves early detection of acute respiratory virus threats. "Importantly, these benefits cannot be attained by siloed expansion in countries that already possess strong capacity." Well done to the team! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
An interesting way to look at encoded structural characters to build alignments and trees downstream. This takes structural phylogenetics one step further in the post-AlphaFold era.
#Evolution #Science #StrPhy
On Confidence Assessment in Structure-Aware Alignments
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#Evolution #Science #StrPhy
On Confidence Assessment in Structure-Aware Alignments
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
Structome-AlignViewer: On Confidence Assessment in Structure-Aware Alignments
Abstract. Protein structure-based comparison provides a framework for uncovering deep evolutionary relationships that can escape conventional sequence-base
doi.org
January 14, 2026 at 11:07 AM
An interesting way to look at encoded structural characters to build alignments and trees downstream. This takes structural phylogenetics one step further in the post-AlphaFold era.
#Evolution #Science #StrPhy
On Confidence Assessment in Structure-Aware Alignments
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
#Evolution #Science #StrPhy
On Confidence Assessment in Structure-Aware Alignments
doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Check out our new print that combines dense sequencing and phylodynamics to uncover a bunch of 😎 things about an understudied virus.
- Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅
- Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅
- Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅
- Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅
- Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅
- Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅
January 12, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Check out our new print that combines dense sequencing and phylodynamics to uncover a bunch of 😎 things about an understudied virus.
- Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅
- Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅
- Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅
- Doesn't evolve for 10 months a year ✅
- Uses some mossies for maintenance, others for spread ✅
- Established in Northeast for ~300 years ✅
Detection of Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) in humans in Türkiye, 2022. JMTV/ALSV perplexes me because it’s constantly detected but no colleagues have been able to culture these viruses (well) in mammalian cells. Real arbovirus? Or a stowaway in CCHF co-infection? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The first detection of Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) in humans in Türkiye, 2022
Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) is a single-stranded RNA virus transmitted to humans through tick bites and classified within the Flaviviridae family. It has been detected in various arthropods and mamma...
www.tandfonline.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:21 AM
Detection of Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) in humans in Türkiye, 2022. JMTV/ALSV perplexes me because it’s constantly detected but no colleagues have been able to culture these viruses (well) in mammalian cells. Real arbovirus? Or a stowaway in CCHF co-infection? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Great to see the work by @chrismcmillan.bsky.social and team highlighted like this.
📢Could delivering DNA vaccines through a patch overcome the challenges faced when delivering through a typical injection?💉
Published in #JGV, a recent study investigated the efficacy of DNA-based influenza vaccines through high-density microarray patches (HD-MAP) in mice.
Published in #JGV, a recent study investigated the efficacy of DNA-based influenza vaccines through high-density microarray patches (HD-MAP) in mice.
January 6, 2026 at 9:07 AM
Great to see the work by @chrismcmillan.bsky.social and team highlighted like this.
Reposted by Rhys Parry
"These practical advantages, combined with the improved immunogenicity demonstrated here, make HD-MAPs a compelling alternative to electroporation for DNA vaccine delivery in outbreak and pandemic contexts."
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1099/jgv....
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1099/jgv....
Improved efficacy of an influenza DNA vaccine through high-density microarray patch delivery
Pandemic preparedness requires vaccine platforms that are fast to produce, thermostable and suitable for broad deployment. DNA vaccines are well suited to this task but have historically suffered…
doi.org
January 6, 2026 at 9:01 AM
"These practical advantages, combined with the improved immunogenicity demonstrated here, make HD-MAPs a compelling alternative to electroporation for DNA vaccine delivery in outbreak and pandemic contexts."
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1099/jgv....
Read the full article here: doi.org/10.1099/jgv....
Reposted by Rhys Parry
The government can’t claim that medical research is a priority while failing to treat it as one. Nine in 10 leading researchers in Australia are missing out on government support for world‑class proposals, leaving exceptional talent uncertain about their future.
Most researchers miss out on innovation grants while medical fund sits on $25b
Nine in 10 Australian researchers had their “ideas grant” applications rejected last year, even as Australia’s medical investment fund sits on $5 billion more than it was designed to hold.
www.theage.com.au
January 3, 2026 at 11:32 PM
The government can’t claim that medical research is a priority while failing to treat it as one. Nine in 10 leading researchers in Australia are missing out on government support for world‑class proposals, leaving exceptional talent uncertain about their future.
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Dear colleagues - the international meeting on arboviruses and their vectors planned in Hamburg, Germany for 2026, is going to be moved to Liverpool instead. Logistical reasons beyond our control necessitated this move. Still the same dates- see you on Merseyside!
December 18, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Dear colleagues - the international meeting on arboviruses and their vectors planned in Hamburg, Germany for 2026, is going to be moved to Liverpool instead. Logistical reasons beyond our control necessitated this move. Still the same dates- see you on Merseyside!
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Great to share the story behind our recent paper on needle-free DNA vaccine delivery! Microarray patches like the one being developed by Vaxxas may help unlock the pandemic preparedness potential of DNA vaccines - read more microb.io/48PTJ2l
Manuscript: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Manuscript: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Patching up pandemic preparedness: a needle-free approach to influenza vaccination
Chris McMillan and Chloe Entriken of the University of Queensland, Australia, take us behind the scenes of their latest publication <a href="http://doi.org/10.1099/jgv.0.002179">'Improved eff...
microb.io
December 16, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Great to share the story behind our recent paper on needle-free DNA vaccine delivery! Microarray patches like the one being developed by Vaxxas may help unlock the pandemic preparedness potential of DNA vaccines - read more microb.io/48PTJ2l
Manuscript: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Manuscript: www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/jour...
Used @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social RNA-seq for the first time. $50USD a sample. Sent 42 samples from Australia. Dropped off 50uL cells in Zymo shield on Dec 5th at RT. Just got data back, almost all at or above 10million reads. Online analysis tool fine but will do own analysis. Spread the word.
December 15, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Used @plasmidsaurus.bsky.social RNA-seq for the first time. $50USD a sample. Sent 42 samples from Australia. Dropped off 50uL cells in Zymo shield on Dec 5th at RT. Just got data back, almost all at or above 10million reads. Online analysis tool fine but will do own analysis. Spread the word.
It’s starting to feel a lot like Christ(Flavi)mas.
December 2, 2025 at 3:38 AM
It’s starting to feel a lot like Christ(Flavi)mas.
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Yup, Colin is right & that NYT piece is infuriating, painting an unreal picture of Kennedy & his band of extreme anti-vaccine activists & conspiracy theorists—who cause suffering & death—as a group of compassionate folks trying to give grieving parents meaning when their unvaxxed kids die of measles
No pundit is doing more work today to launder attacks on public health than Rachael Bedard, who has constructed a parallel world where vaccine hesitancy is best understood as a rational response to elitism; money and social media algorithms don’t exist to her www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/o...
Opinion | I Went to an Anti-Vaccine Conference. Medicine Is in Trouble.
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Yup, Colin is right & that NYT piece is infuriating, painting an unreal picture of Kennedy & his band of extreme anti-vaccine activists & conspiracy theorists—who cause suffering & death—as a group of compassionate folks trying to give grieving parents meaning when their unvaxxed kids die of measles
Out now in Microbial Genomics @microbiologysociety.org MCMV-infected dendritic cells switch off MHC-II (via Ciita) while turning on migration via viral GPCR M33 – converting DCs into stealth couriers for viral spread. Work with Helen Farrell lab and @chrismcmillan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1099/mgen...
November 26, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Out now in Microbial Genomics @microbiologysociety.org MCMV-infected dendritic cells switch off MHC-II (via Ciita) while turning on migration via viral GPCR M33 – converting DCs into stealth couriers for viral spread. Work with Helen Farrell lab and @chrismcmillan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1099/mgen...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting
📄 Abstract submission deadline: Nov 28
Please submit your abstracts by Friday! Registration is free, but limited to 50 in-person attendees.
✈️ Travel grant applications deadline: Nov 28
🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str...
📄 Abstract submission deadline: Nov 28
Please submit your abstracts by Friday! Registration is free, but limited to 50 in-person attendees.
✈️ Travel grant applications deadline: Nov 28
🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str...
APSPM 2026: Structural Phylogenetics Meeting
A pivotal SMBE regional meeting in Brisbane on the interface of protein structure, function, and evolution.
biosig.lab.uq.edu.au
November 24, 2025 at 6:09 AM
SMBE Australasian Protein Structural Phylogenetics Meeting
📄 Abstract submission deadline: Nov 28
Please submit your abstracts by Friday! Registration is free, but limited to 50 in-person attendees.
✈️ Travel grant applications deadline: Nov 28
🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str...
📄 Abstract submission deadline: Nov 28
Please submit your abstracts by Friday! Registration is free, but limited to 50 in-person attendees.
✈️ Travel grant applications deadline: Nov 28
🔗 biosig.lab.uq.edu.au/strphy26/str...
Are influenza B viruses really “human only”? New review synthesises evidence from serology & metagenomics for #IBV / IBV-like viruses in animals and aquatic hosts. One Health gaps remain. With @marioskoutsakos.viralvaxlab.com @duckswabber.bsky.social www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17...
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
Are influenza B viruses really “human only”? New review synthesises evidence from serology & metagenomics for #IBV / IBV-like viruses in animals and aquatic hosts. One Health gaps remain. With @marioskoutsakos.viralvaxlab.com @duckswabber.bsky.social www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17...
Starting to say “publish or perish” less fatalistically and more threateningly.
November 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Starting to say “publish or perish” less fatalistically and more threateningly.
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Was my pleasure to present our brain organoid model of flavivirus infection at Organoid Nexus symposium in sunny Melbourne.
November 21, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Was my pleasure to present our brain organoid model of flavivirus infection at Organoid Nexus symposium in sunny Melbourne.
New preprint from the Khromykh/ @slonchak.bsky.social /Short lab 👇
In primary human nasal epithelia, #Omicron BA.5 & XBB show enhanced ciliated-cell tropism and a striking cilia-gene shutdown plus apoptosis/inflammation, unlike ancestral virus or BA.1.
Preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In primary human nasal epithelia, #Omicron BA.5 & XBB show enhanced ciliated-cell tropism and a striking cilia-gene shutdown plus apoptosis/inflammation, unlike ancestral virus or BA.1.
Preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 AM
New preprint from the Khromykh/ @slonchak.bsky.social /Short lab 👇
In primary human nasal epithelia, #Omicron BA.5 & XBB show enhanced ciliated-cell tropism and a striking cilia-gene shutdown plus apoptosis/inflammation, unlike ancestral virus or BA.1.
Preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
In primary human nasal epithelia, #Omicron BA.5 & XBB show enhanced ciliated-cell tropism and a striking cilia-gene shutdown plus apoptosis/inflammation, unlike ancestral virus or BA.1.
Preprint:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
Where to start, with a statement like this?
"Tim Ayres said the cuts were aimed at refocusing … CSIRO towards research priorities, such as critical minerals, iron & steel production in Australia."
From some rando down the bus stop, one would brush it off.
But this is from our Science Minister 🤯
"Tim Ayres said the cuts were aimed at refocusing … CSIRO towards research priorities, such as critical minerals, iron & steel production in Australia."
From some rando down the bus stop, one would brush it off.
But this is from our Science Minister 🤯
CSIRO to cut up to 350 research jobs in major overhaul
After 440 positions were slashed last year, the CSIRO has announced more staff cuts across the country in a bid to remain financially viable.
www.abc.net.au
November 19, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Where to start, with a statement like this?
"Tim Ayres said the cuts were aimed at refocusing … CSIRO towards research priorities, such as critical minerals, iron & steel production in Australia."
From some rando down the bus stop, one would brush it off.
But this is from our Science Minister 🤯
"Tim Ayres said the cuts were aimed at refocusing … CSIRO towards research priorities, such as critical minerals, iron & steel production in Australia."
From some rando down the bus stop, one would brush it off.
But this is from our Science Minister 🤯
Reposted by Rhys Parry
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
November 17, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you'd like to celebrate the biology of viruses - or the fight against viral diseases - this winter, try out our free and updated #VirusSnowflake designs.
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Please share, and if you have any photos of Virus Snowflakes in your area it would be lovely to see them!
cvr-engagement.co.uk/virus-snowfl...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
🚨 NEW: The majority holder of the world's genetic sequence data is a bad actor who can cut off access to critics and competing services. We've tolerated this for years, and now it threatens the pandemic treaty. Time for WHO to step in. With @ctrlalttim.com: www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/to-f...
To Finish the Pandemic Agreement, WHO Needs a Trustworthy Viral Database | Think Global Health
Online platforms for sharing virus sequences are in disarray. The World Health Organization has a chance to build something new
www.thinkglobalhealth.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:31 PM
🚨 NEW: The majority holder of the world's genetic sequence data is a bad actor who can cut off access to critics and competing services. We've tolerated this for years, and now it threatens the pandemic treaty. Time for WHO to step in. With @ctrlalttim.com: www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/to-f...
Reposted by Rhys Parry
I want to spell this out in case the implications aren't clear:
This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.
The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.
This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.
The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.
On Oct 1, 2025, GISAID informed us that they had ended updates to the flat file of SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequences and associated metadata that we had used to update Nextstrain analyses since Feb 2020. GISAID's stated rationale was that their "resources are limited". 1/5
November 7, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I want to spell this out in case the implications aren't clear:
This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.
The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.
This means all public tools/webapps of GISAID data (all the ones you've been used to seeing thru the pandemic, as far as we can tell) are prohibited.
The file allowed this. Cut that - cut off all tools the public & others were using.