Dr Eleni-Anna Loundras

Eleni-Anna graduated from the University of Leeds in 2013 with a 2:1 (Hons) in Microbiology with Virology. She then embarked on a PhD in Molecular Virology, again at the University of Leeds, graduating in 2017. Her PhD focused on dissecting the molecular basis of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) replication complex and it’s interactions with host-cell factors with a special focus on the viral polymerase. As a post-doc, she briefly moved into the world of viral oncology, but then returned to veterinary virology when she joined The Pirbright Institute in 2021 as a post-doc within the NVRL working on understanding African swine fever virus (ASFV) survivability in the environment.

In 2023, she became Technical Manager of the NVRL. Operating under ISO/IEC 17025 standards, her work involves overseeing diagnostic and surveillance testing for several animal viruses including Bluetongue virus, African horse sickness virus, ASFV, Capripox viruses, Epizootic haemorrhagic disease virus and Peste des petits ruminants virus. She works closely with the rest of the team in order to continue to build and improve the Institute’s diagnostic capabilities.