Wil Furnon
wfurnon.bsky.social
Wil Furnon
@wfurnon.bsky.social
Virologist - Coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses, virus-host interactions.
Views my own
Reposted by Wil Furnon
🚨🚨🚨Lab manager position available in the Maizels lab: great team, super exciting project!
🚧 Deadline to apply: 14th May
More details below
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMV729/l...
Lab Manager at University of Glasgow
Explore an exciting academic career as a Lab Manager. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
April 29, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Wil Furnon
New preprint from Luke Snell from GSTT, Suzanne Pickering in my lab and Rui Galao, my colleague at KCL.

Here we examine in detail the evolution of the SARS CoV-2 spike in persistent infections, and essentially catch a potential variant in the act of developing. 1/n

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Antibody escape drives emergence of diverse spike haplotypes resembling variants of concern in persistent SARS-CoV-2 infections
Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in long-term persistent infections is hypothesised to be a major source of variants of concern (VOC). However, the linkage of intra-host variants into haplotypes that reflect v...
www.biorxiv.org
April 23, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Reposted by Wil Furnon
We're strengthening the nation’s health security defences. 🛡
Live from #UKHSA25, we've announced a new tool to help focus research efforts on pathogen families of greatest potential risk to public health, boosting preparedness against future threats.
📰🔗 www.gov.uk/government/n...
March 25, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Wil Furnon
Really proud to share our preprint describing early adaptation of H5N1 to US dairy cattle, and showing how these mutations enhance the ability of the virus to infect other mammals, such as pigs and humans.

With @influenzal.bsky.social @vidhid.bsky.social @drclairesmith.bsky.social and many more!
Polymerase mutations underlie adaptation of H5N1 influenza virus to dairy cattle and other mammals.
In early 2024, an unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza was detected in dairy cattle in the USA. The epidemic remains uncontrolled, with spillbacks into poultry, wild birds...
www.biorxiv.org
January 7, 2025 at 7:59 AM
🚨🔔 Delighted to see this piece of work from @cvrinfo.bsky.social now out in @naturemicrobiol.bsky.social ! Indeed, it really reflects what multidisciplinary team effort can be. Guess what? Spike of #SARSCoV2 is not just about antigenicity/immune evasion… doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike during the COVID-19 pandemic - Nature Microbiology
Systematic comparison of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins from pre- and post-Omicron variants in cell lines, primary respiratory epithelial cells and Syrian hamsters show distinct phenotypic trajectories in ...
doi.org
January 5, 2025 at 2:43 PM