The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr Leon Caly

Dr Leon Caly

(03) 9342 9600 | leon.caly@mh.org.au

Position:
Senior Medical Scientist
Theme(s):
Viral Infectious Diseases, Dengue, Emerging Infections
Discipline(s):
Discovery Research, Computational Science and Genomics, Public Health
Unit(s):
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)
Lab Group(s):
Virus Identification Laboratory

Dr Leon Caly is a Senior Medical Scientist within the Virus Identification Laboratory of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) and a lead for the Viral Infectious Diseases theme at the Doherty Institute. He is currently utilising next generation sequencing (NGS) approaches to identify and classify novel pathogens within “at risk” populations, analysing viral disease trends retrospectively within discreet populations within Australia,  populations and exploring the effectiveness of current fumigation strategies with regards to viral inactivation. Leon is actively engaged in expanding the breadth and scope of research programs within VIDRL (including the high containment facility) and engaging with external stakeholders in numerous collaborative projects. Leon completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Hons) and PhD at Monash University in biochemistry, focusing on the nuclear trafficking of the HIV genome within infected cells. His most recent work analysed the impact of respiratory viruses on the host cell gene expression.  Leon has 8 years’ diagnostics experience within the Microbiology department of Gribbles Pathology (now Australian Clinical Labs).

Leon also holds the position of VIDRL Safety Officer (Manager) and Deputy (2nd) High Containment Facility Manager.

  • Research Groups
    • Virus Identification Laboratory

      The Virus Identification laboratory performs rapid turnaround diagnostic virology on samples referred for testing. Further testing may include virus load, virus genotyping, lineage transmission investigation, drug resistance testing and genotyping, speciation, virus isolation and novel virus discovery. 


      Lab Team

      Virus Identification Laboratory

      • Head of High Containment Laboratories and Biorisk
      • Abdul Naser Amiri
      • Anthony Leggieri
      • Elizabeth McKinnon
      • Georgina Papadakis
      • Jaspreet Singh
      • Jessica Russell
      • Senior Medical Scientist
      • Renata Kostecki
      • Senior Scientist
      • Yano Yoga