Ben Brown is a clinical scientist at Public Health England’s Manchester virology laboratory.  The Covid-19 outbreak has kept Ben Brown incredibly busy during the last few months.

For in his role as a clinical scientist at the Public Health England Manchester virology laboratory, he has been involved in the diagnostic testing for the coronavirus which has spread throughout the globe.

Ben revealed: “As a virology laboratory directly involved in the diagnostic COVID testing the last few months have been incredibly busy and challenging but it has been very rewarding to be so closely involved in the ongoing pandemic.”

A subfield of microbiology, virology is the study of viruses. Ben explained: “My job role involves developing and validating new diagnostic tests for viral infections, researching new technologies, training staff and supervising services, helping to maintain a high-quality working environment and advising service users and clinicians on diagnostic virology results.

“I also specialise in increasing the diagnosis of Hepatitis C and antiviral drug resistance testing.

Ben completed an MSc in medical microbiology and undertook a four-year training course to become a state registered clinical scientist in microbiology before choosing to specialise in virology.

He has also obtained a PhD part-time and is currently training to complete FRC Path qualifications awarded by the Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists with the aim of qualifying as a consultant clinical scientist in clinical virology.

He said: “The most enjoyable aspects of the job are the variety of tasks you deal with day to day and applied research which has a direct and real benefit to patient care.

“I would advise others to follow a similar career, the job is challenging but remains varied and interesting with the combination of laboratory science with clinical involvement.”