Healthcare Scientist

The Respiratory Virus Unit (RVU) sits within the Virus Reference Department (VRD) at UKHSA Reference Services Colindale, London. RVU is the WHO National Influenza Centre (NIC) for the UK and is the National Reference Laboratory for a range of respiratory virus pathogens. The unit is one of four WHO global respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) Reference Laboratories, and as such collaborates with WHO, providing technical support and advice to national laboratories, and a WHO Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS CoV) Reference Laboratory, providing confirmatory and reference services for MERS CoV.

The post holder will take delegated responsibility from the Unit Head / Scientific Leads and Technical Manager for:

Provide laboratory support for the identification, growth and characterisation of clinical influenza and other respiratory virus isolates.

Provide laboratory support for antiviral susceptibility surveillance by genotypic and phenotypic methods.

Provide laboratory support for the detection and genetic characterisation of influenza viruses (human, avian and mammalian), respiratory syncytial viruses and coronaviruses.