Emilia Cecylia Skirmuntt

Evolutionary Virologist

I always was interested in science and biology which resulted in me doing a bachelors degree in Animal Genetics at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, and two Masters degrees – one in Biomedical Sciences (University of Westminster) and one in Forensic Medical Sciences (Bart’s and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry). However, viruses were always my biggest love (I know how weird that sounds!) and in the end I started doing my DPhil at the University of Oxford in evolutionary virology, looking at bat viruses. Apart from bats and viruses I’m interested in genome evolution, how new genes develop and appear, and the arms-race between viruses and their hosts.