Dr. Joshua Hayward is a senior researcher, a molecular virologist and computational biologist, working with Prof. Gilda Tachedjian, within the Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Laboratory at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne. His active research includes the identification and characterisation of novel retroviruses in bats and their interactions with host antiviral defences, and understanding the impact of the vaginal microbiome and bacterial metabolites on susceptibility to viral infection.