Galway-born microbiologist heads team trying to anticipate future viruses
Virus-hunter Gavin Cloherty chuckles on a Microsoft Teams call when asked to describe what success would look like years from now for Abbott’s recently-announced Global Pandemic Defence Coalition.
“If I was to write a book about this programme in five or ten years’ time, I’d probably title it ‘Pandemics that never happened’. So, being successful is almost not being famous, because we would have stopped anything that could have happened,” explains the US-based Galway native.
The Claddagh man is head of infectious disease research at Abbott, the US medical devices and healthcare multinational with a plant in Ballybrit.
Based in Chicago, the Galway native is a driving force in the coalition designed to help the global scientific and health community identify new viral threats, take quick action when one is discovered, and help prevent future pandemics.
The ‘first-of-its-kind global scientific network’ is not a kneejerk reaction to the current Coronavirus pandemic but it is dedicated to the early detection of, and rapid response to, future pandemics.
“Viruses are everywhere. That’s one of the challenges. You’re trying to find the needle in the stack of needles – that one needle that is important,” he says.
“We probably know about 1% of all of the viruses that are out there that could infect people. The problem is, which one is it that could be the next pandemic?”
Read the full interview with Gavin Cloherty in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download our digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie