Policy

Members of the CVR community have shaped policy in a range of significant ways. They contribute their expertise through committee roles across organisations such as the WHO, UKHSA, and both the UK and Scottish Governments, and have played a key part in producing technical reports and guidance relating to several outbreaks.

A wide-angle view of two modern CVR buildings, featuring glass façades and gold cladding, with a walkway and planted area leading towards a connecting glass bridge under a clear blue sky.

Adeno-associated Virus 2

Emma Thomson, Toni Ho

CVR identified AAV2 as the likely pathogen involved in an outbreak of unexplained hepatitis. Clinical recruitment and co-ordination and characterisation was led by Prof Toni Ho. Research response was led by Prof Emma Thomson, involving Dr Richard Orton, Prof David Robertson, Dr Ana Filipe, Dr Vanessa Herder and Dr Patawee Asamaphan. This was detected in real time, during the outbreak, and was later verified by Gt Ormond St and CDC/Charles Chiu in the USA (6 months later). 

Investigation into acute hepatitis of unknown aetiology in children in England

Event Video: From Illness to Insight: Exploring a Journey through Paediatric Research

SARS-CoV-2

Members of:

Technical Reports:

Advisory contribution to:

  • RSE Post Covid-19 Futures Commission
  • DHSC Serology Testing Advisory Group
  • UK Vaccine Taskforce Expert Advisory Group
  • SAGE

Evidence given to:

Mpox

Emma Thomson

Investigation into monkeypox outbreak in England: technical briefings

Avian Flu

Ed Hutchison, Massimo Palmarini, Pablo , Emma Thomson

Members of: 

UKHSA Reports:

Dengue Virus

Steven Sinkins 

Zika

Alain Kohl

Science and Technology Committee
Oral evidence: Zika virus, HC 808

Ebola

Emma Thomson, Deborah Williamson, Erica Peters

Evaluation of PPE following a community diagnosis of Ebola virus in the UK.

Ebola vaccine evaluation - Assessing the real-world effectiveness of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine 

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Toni Ho, Louisa Pollock

RSV vaccine evaluation - Why the UK is vaccinating its older adult population against RSV—what geriatricians should know

Rabies Virus

Daniel Streicker

Rabies control in Peru. 

Hepatitis C Virus

John McLauchlan, Emma Thomson

  • International liver disease guidelines (EASL and APASL) have cited Glasgow-led research since 2016 to support sofosbuvir-based treatments for people with decompensated liver disease.

  • Prof Thomson authored WHO background reviews and drafted the first WHO HCV treatment guidelines, with UofG research informing recommendations on rare viral subtypes and genotypic resistance.

  • In 2024, Prof Thomson contributed evidence to WHO on the need for monitoring resistance as the global HCV elimination plan progresses.

  • Prof McLauchlan and Prof Thomson contributed to PHE/UKHSA guidance on DAA resistance testing, helping to shape clinical management pathways for re-treatment cases.

  • CVR developed widely used resistance resources such as HCV-GLUE, with background data evaluated by UKHSA.

  • Through the STOP-HCV consortium, CVR researchers created genomic characterisation methods now used by the UK reference laboratory—the first public health application of target enrichment sequencing, later applied to HIV.

Veterinary

Margaret Hosie

European reference laboratory for feline calicivirus. 

Artificial Intelligence

Joe Grove 

Joe Grove chaired a cross-government committee meeting on the use of AI to evaluate pandemic pathogens – for antigenicity, therapeutic discovery etc.