Director Info

Dr Sharon Brookes is currently the Lead Scientist for Animal and Zoonotic Viral Diseases at APHA with oversight of surveillance and diagnostics, and research and development.

Recently work includes SARS-CoV-2 at the animal-human interface. During 2007-2018 she led the APHA influenza virus groups (bird and swine ‘flu) and prior to that rabies and other lyssaviruses teams.

Her career has focused on viral disease pathogenesis. This was proceeded by junior and senior post-doctoral research posts at the Institute for Animal Health – Pirbright and The Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology having completed her PhD at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong. From 1991 she has been a long-standing member of the Society for General Microbiology (SGM), now known as the Microbiology Society (MiSoc) - serving on their Virology Committee, an editor/senior editor of their Journal of Medical Microbiology since 2017 and in 2020 being elected as a trustee to MiSoc Council.

She works closely with UK Government-Defra colleagues in Food Farming and Biosecurity. Sharon has just completed the CS Talent Future Leadership Scheme - 2019/20 cohort including the inaugural Disability Empowers Leadership Talent CSFLS-DELTA programme.

Dr Brookes is also a member of the APHA Academic Board, recruiting, supervising and examining PhD and other post graduate students. She has 130 publications (science and stakeholder based manuscripts) on a range of veterinary and zoonotic viral pathogens: Coronaviruses, bluetongue virus, endogenous retroviruses, African swine fever virus, foot and mouth disease virus, rabies and other bat lyssaviruses and influenza viruses.