Graham Beards

Dr Graham Beards is an English microbiologist and pioneer of research on rotavirus[]. Beards was born in Birmingham, England in 1952 and majored in Biological Sciences at the University of Birmingham, England. He was subsequently awarded Master of Science, (University of Warwick) and Doctor of Science degrees in recognition of his contribution to research on the viruses that cause gastroenteritis. Beards began his research working with the eminent virologist Dr. Thomas Henry Flewett[], (1922 – 2006). His discovery of the serological and genetic diversity of rotaviruses was important to the subsequent development of vaccines to combat rotavirus disease.

His early research papers on the variability of the genes of rotaviruses contributed to  the concept of  “viral” quasispecies.[]