William D. Rawlinson

vartracker analyzes and visualizes pathogen variants over time, tracking their evolution and classification across longitudinal datasets.

The paper shows how SARS-CoV-2 variants, particularly Omicron, evolved proteolytic controls at the Spike furin cleavage site to enhance transmission while reducing lower respiratory tract pathogenicity.

This study compares the antiviral activity and host response of four drugs in HCMV-infected brain organoids, showing varying effects on viral load and gene expression.

This paper shows that SARS-CoV-2 Omicron lineages replicate using a specific ACE2 pool that does not complex with TMPRSS2, unlike pre-Omicron variants.

This study tracks SARS-CoV-2 evolution through 33-100 serial passages in vitro, identifying convergent mutations that may confer fitness or transmissibility advantages.

This study investigates discordant sequence data in SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing to improve bioinformatic quality standards and surveillance practices.

The paper shows Omicron SARS-CoV-2 lineages rely on ACE2 without TMPRSS2 complexes for entry, due to changes in the ACE2 Collectrin-Like Domain affecting TMPRSS2 activation.

The paper identifies a SARS-CoV-2 variant with an ORF7a deletion that persisted during a major outbreak but shows no clear fitness advantage in cell culture.

The paper reports the rapid spread of a SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant with a frameshift deletion in ORF7a, which may reduce suppression of host restriction factors and is prevalent in Australian outbreaks.

This study evaluates a pilot proficiency testing program for bacterial whole genome sequencing in clinical and public health labs, showing labs can generate and analyze high-quality data using diverse bioinformatics tools.

This paper introduces chimeric RNA standards for SARS-CoV-2 testing to simultaneously validate positive and negative controls in diagnostic assays.

This study evaluates the analytical validity of nanopore sequencing for SARS-CoV-2 genome analysis, finding high accuracy for SNVs but limitations in detecting short indels and low-frequency variants.

This study evaluates how fecal collection conditions and 16S rRNA sequencing protocols affect gut microbiome analysis across two centers, finding that center-specific differences outweigh collection method variations.