Lewis joined White Lab during honours and worked on developing a qPCR assay for the detection and enumeration of the parasites Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts. This project aimed to improving water testing in collaboration with BioPoint and investigating the effect gamma-irradiated cysts have on PCR compared to non-irradiated cysts. In his honours year, he has also discovered novel viruses and endogenous viral elements in two ancient fish lineages; jawless fish and lobe-finned fish to study the evolution of ancient viruses and their relation to modern fish viruses.

Currently, Lewis is focusing on discovering novel viruses that afflict Australian food fish such as tunas, barramundi, and salmonids. He is also using molecular epidemiology to monitor the circulating norovirus genotypes in clinical samples and wastewater.

Supervisor:

Professor Peter White