Personal Statement
Julian A. Hiscox is Chair in Infection and Global Health. He is an Executive Dean for the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences. Prior to the Dean's role he was a Deputy Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Impact in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. He has a BSc in Genetics from University College London (1991) and a PhD in Virology from the University of Reading (1994). Julian completed post-doctoral training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA) and the Institute for Animal Health (Compton, UK). In 1999 he was appointed as a Lecturer in Virology at the University of Reading and then moved to the University of Leeds in 2003 where he was subsequently a Senior Lecturer and Reader in Virology. In 2012 he was recruited to the University of Liverpool as a Chair. His research group, composed of five PDRAs and two PhD students, focuses on viral respiratory infections such as SARS-CoV-2, MERS-CoV and seasonal human coronaviruses and and emerging threats including Ebola virus and Mpox. The group is also interested in biological and chemical threat agents and applying AI and machine learning approaches to inform functional approaches. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for the UK Government, Julian was a co-opted member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG). This group advises the government on the threat posed by new and emerging respiratory viruses and he was an occasional participant at the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). He was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Antibody Testing. He is currently a member of NERVTAG until 2029. He holds an adjust position at the A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs (IDL) in Singapore and is a Trustee Director of the Pirbright Institute.

Research Overview
Julian's research group is supported by over £6M in funding from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), UKRI (MRC), the European Commission and the Defence Science Technology Laboratory. His group uses high resolution approaches such as sequencing and proteomics coupled to AI/machine learning driven informatics to understand how viruses and other threat agents cause disease in human and model systems and using these approaches as a basis to underpin functional biology and inform the evaluation of medical countermeasures (diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics). Following a life long interest in genetics, the group is also focused on how viral variants emerge with competitive fitness advantages. The laboratory is also looking at new ways to use Nanopore sequencing and have recently developed novel laboratory approaches and AI tools to detect the direct effect of ricin poisoning and predict the future evolution of viruses. The research is internationally focused and part of large collaborative groupings, with major partners in Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Julian leads the FDA's Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats (OCET) funded program on SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV informing the development of diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics and how this relates to regulatory science (https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-regulatory-science/fda-and-global-partners-analyze-coronavirus-samples). The group works extensively at Containment Level 3 on selected pathogenic agents and we have a strong interface with clinical scientists.