Andrew Rambaut Explained

Fields:Molecular evolution
Virology
Molecular epidemiology
Computational biology
Workplaces:University of Edinburgh
Alma Mater:University of Edinburgh (BSc)
University of Oxford (DPhil)
Thesis Title:The inference of evolutionary and population dynamic processes from molecular phylogenies
Thesis Url:https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.339299
Thesis Year:1997
Doctoral Advisor:Paul H. Harvey[1]
Awards:Royal Society University Research Fellowship
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Andrew Rambaut is a British evolutionary biologist, professor of molecular evolution at the University of Edinburgh.

Education

Rambaut earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Edinburgh in 1993 followed by a DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford in 1997 supervised by Paul H. Harvey.[1] [2] [3]

Career and research

He was based at Oxford until 2006, when he took up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship position and became Chair of Molecular Evolution at Edinburgh in 2010.[4]

Rambaut's research is primarily on the "evolutionary and epidemiological study of viral pathogens of humans and animals".[4]

In 2007, he published a paper with Alexei Drummond describing BEAST (Bayesian evolutionary analysis sampling trees), a software package for evolutionary analysis by molecular sequence variation, which uses Bayesian inference techniques.[5] [6] This is freely available on GitHub.[7] A year later, Rambaut set up Virological.org, an online "discussion forum for molecular evolution and epidemiology of viruses".[8]

Rambaut has used genome sequencing to track the spread of monkeypox. His research suggests that cases outside Africa are all related and that the virus responsible may have been circulating in people since 2017.[9]

COVID-19

Science reported on 11 January 2020 that Rambaut was the first to publish the genome of the COVID-19 coronavirus after it was sent to him by Edward C. Holmes.[10] [11] Holmes has said that it "took 52 minutes from receiving the code [from his Chinese colleague Professor [[Zhang Yongzhen|Yong-Zhen Zhang]]] to publishing" on Virological.[12] [13] The BBC Horizon episode The Vaccine stated: "When Chinese scientists published the genetic sequence of a mystery new virus on January 10th 2020, vaccine scientists around the world immediately sprang into action."[14]

Rambaut was one of the authors of the scientific paper The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2, which concluded that "SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus". The paper led to scientific and political allegations in 2023, when Republican politicians in the US made accusations that the paper was a cover-up to eliminate the lab leak theory. The paper and the controversy became known as the Proximal Origin.[15] [16]

Awards and honours

Rambaut was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2022,[17] having been a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) since 2014.

Rambaut is an attendee of the UK government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Paul Harvey: Evolution tree. academictree.org.
  2. Web site: Andrew Rambaut. ed.ac.uk.
  3. DPhil. University of Oxford. The inference of evolutionary and population dynamic processes from molecular phylogenies. Andrew. Rambaut. 1997. . ox.ac.uk. 556744675.
  4. Web site: Professor Andrew Rambaut FRSE . Royal Society of Edinburgh . 25 April 2020.
  5. free.
  6. Web site: BEAST: Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis Sampling Trees . BEAST Software . 13 October 2020 . 1 November 2020.
  7. Web site: beast-dev/beast-mcmc . GitHub . 1 November 2020.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20160402052244if_/http://virological.org/t/welcome-to-virological-org/8 Virological.org on the Wayback Machine
  9. Web site: Le Page . Michael . 6 June 2022 . Monkeypox DNA hints virus has been spreading in people for years . 2023-04-20 . New Scientist . en-US.
  10. Web site: 2020-01-11 . Novel 2019 coronavirus genome . 2024-06-07 . Virological . en.
  11. Jon. Cohen . 2020. Chinese researchers reveal draft genome of virus implicated in Wuhan pneumonia outbreak. Science.
  12. Web site: Aubusson . Kate . 2020-10-26 . Virus rebel Professor Edward Holmes named NSW Scientist of the Year . 2024-06-07 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  13. News: Quammen . David . 2020-08-24 . Did Pangolin Trafficking Cause the Coronavirus Pandemic? . 2024-06-07 . The New Yorker . en-US . 0028-792X.
  14. Web site: 2021-06-10 . BBC Two - Horizon, 2021, Horizon Special: The Vaccine, The race for a vaccine begins… . 2024-06-07 . BBC . en-GB.
  15. News: Stolberg . Sheryl Gay . Mueller . Benjamin . 2023-07-11 . Scientists, Under Fire From Republicans, Defend Fauci and Covid Origins Study . en . The New York Times . 2023-08-12.
  16. Jon . Cohen . 2023-07-11 . Politicians, scientists spar over alleged NIH cover-up using COVID-19 origin paper . Science . 10.1126/science.adj7036.
  17. Web site: Anon . 2022 . Professor Andrew Rambaut FRS . royalsociety.org . . London.
  18. News: Sample . Ian . Who's who on secret scientific group advising UK government? . 24 April 2020 . The Guardian . 24 April 2020.