Reidun Twarock pioneered Mathematical Virology, a unique combination of mathematics, biophysics, and bioinformatics, to address open problems in virology. Her ‘mathematical microscope’ has enabled discoveries in virology through the 'lens of viral geometry'. Most importantly, her work was instrumental in deciphering the 'assembly code' that provides instructions for the formation of viral particles from their molecular components. The co-discovery with experimentalist Peter Stockley of this virus assembly mechanism, first in bacteriophage MS2 and subsequently in major viral human pathogens, changed the existing paradigm and opened up novel opportunities in anti-viral therapies, vaccination and gene therapy.
Throughout her career, Twarock held numerous fellowships, including an EPSRC Advanced and later Established Career Fellowship, a Marie Curie Fellowship, a Royal Society Wolfson Fellowship, and a Northern Accelerator Enterprise Fellowship for her translation work. Large scale funding from a Leverhulme Trust Research Leadership Award in 2013, and currently from the Wellcome Trust, support her interdisciplinary team.
In 2018 she won the Gold Medal of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications.
Professional position
- Professor of Mathematical and Computational Virology, University of York
