About Dr. W. (Wilhelm) Furnon
Introduction
Wilhelm Furnon is a molecular virologist in the Department of Viroscience at the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands. After earning his BSc in Microbiology (2012) and MSc in Microbial Ecology (2014) from the University of Lyon, France, he completed his PhD in Virology in 2018, focusing on the functional characterisation of the flavivirus NS1 protein and the development of antiviral peptide inhibitors.
He then joined the MRC–University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (UK) as a postdoctoral researcher, where he investigated the virus-host interactions driving disease tolerance to arbovirus infection in reservoir species and the phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2025, he joined the Department of Viroscience at Erasmus Medical Centre, in the Netherlands, to dissect the molecular mechanisms that enable animal viruses to overcome cross-species barriers, with a focus on coronaviruses and avian influenza viruses.
His work combines high-throughput virology, advanced cell culture models and computational pipelines to unravel viral determinants of replicative fitness, innate immune antagonism, pathogenesis and cross-species transmission.
Field(s) of expertise
Education and career
Education
2018: Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Virology, University of Lyon, France.2014: MSc in microbial ecology, University of Lyon, France.
2012: BSc in microbiology, University of Lyon, France.
Career
08/2025 – Present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.08/2021 – 08/2025: Postdoc Research Associate, MRC – University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, United Kingdom.
11/2018 – 08/2021: Postdoc Research Assistant, MRC – University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, United Kingdom.
Publications
High throughput virus phenotyping and reverse genetics expertise
Wilhelm Furnon*, Vanessa M Cowton*, Giuditta De Lorenzo*, Richard Orton, Vanessa Herder, Diego Cantoni, Georgios Ilia, Diogo Correa Mendonca, Karen Kerr, Jay Allan, Nicole Upfold, Gavin R Meehan, Siddharth Bakshi, Udeet Ranjan Das, Sergi Molina Arias, Marion McElwee, Sarah Little, Nicola Logan, Kirsty Kwok, Katherine Smollett, Brian Willett, Ana Da Silva Filipe, David L Robertson, Joe Grove, Arvind H Patel and Massimo Palmarini (2025) “Phenotypic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 spike throughout the COVID-19 pandemic” Nature Microbiology 10:77-93 .
Brian J Willett*, Joe Grove*, Oscar A MacLean*, Craig Wilkie*, Giuditta De Lorenzo*, Wilhelm Furnon*, Diego Cantoni*, Sam Scott*, Nicola Logan*, Shirin Ashraf*, Maria Manali, Agnieszka Szemiel, Vanessa Cowton, Elen Vink, William T Harvey, Chris Davis, Patawee Asamaphan, Katherine Smollett, Lily Tong, Richard Orton, Joseph Hughes, Poppy Holland, Vanessa Silva, David J Pascall, Kathryn Puxty, Ana da Silva Filipe, Gonzalo Yebra, Sharif Shaaban, Matthew TG Holden, Rute Maria Pinto, Rory Gunson, Kate Templeton, Pablo R Murcia, Arvind H Patel, Paul Klenerman, Susanna Dunachie, John Haughney, David L Robertson, Massimo Palmarini, Surajit Ray, Emma C Thomson (2022) “SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway” Nature Microbiology 7, 1161–1179 (*equal contribution).
Ann-Kathrin Reuschl, Lucy G Thorne, Matthew VX Whelan, Roberta Ragazzini, Wilhelm Furnon, Vanessa M Cowton, Giuditta De Lorenzo, Dejan Mesner, Jane LE Turner, Giulia Dowgier, Nathasha Bogoda, Paola Bonfanti, Massimo Palmarini, Arvind H Patel, Clare Jolly, Greg J Towers (2024) “Evolution of enhanced innate immune suppression by SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants” Nature Microbiology 9, 451–463.
Virus-host interactions and pathogenesis
Gavin R Meehan, Vanessa Herder, Jay Allan, Xinyi Huang, Karen Kerr, Diogo Correa Mendonca, Georgios Ilia, Derek W Wright, Kyriaki Nomikou, Quan Gu, Sergi Molina Arias, Giuditta De Lorenzo, Vanessa Cowton, Nicole Upfold, Natasha Palmalux, Jonathan Brown, Wendy Barclay, Ana Da Silva Filipe, Wilhelm Furnon, Arvind H Patel, Massimo Palmarini (2023) “Phenotyping the virulence of SARS-CoV-2 variants in hamsters by digital pathology and machine learning” PLoS Pathogens.
Alexandra Hardy, Siddharth Bakshi, Wilhelm Furnon, Oscar MacLean, Quan Gu, Margus Varjak, Mariana Varela, Muhamad Afiq Aziz, Andrew E Shaw, Rute Maria Pinto, Natalia Cameron Ruiz, Catrina Mullan, Aislynn E Taggart, Ana Da Silva Filipe, Richard E Randall, Sam J Wilson, Meredith E Stewart, Massimo Palmarini (2023) “The timing and magnitude of the type I interferon response are correlated with disease tolerance in arbovirus infection” mBio, 14:e00101-23.
For a complete list of publications, see:
Google Scholar
ORCID
Other positions
2023 – 2025 Invited expert on coronaviruses and reverse genetics, Scientific advisory committee on genetic modification (SACGM), Health and Safety Executive (HSE), United Kingdom.
Scholarships, grants, and awards
2014: PhD fellowship, French Ministry of Education and Research, top 3%, € 70,000.
