Rhys Parry

I am a molecular virologist and ARC DECRA Fellow at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, where I am Deputy Team Leader of the Infection and Immunity theme. My research focuses on RNA virus evolution, host immunity, and RNA technologies for vaccines and therapeutics, linking four connected themes:

• Virus discovery and evolution: identifying and characterising novel viruses across diverse hosts using metatranscriptomics, phylogenetics, and comparative genomics, with particular focus on orthoflaviviruses and orthomyxoviruses
• Host–virus interactions: understanding how innate immune and RNAi pathways shape infection outcomes in mammalian and arthropod systems
• Reverse genetics: developing CPER-based systems, reporter viruses, and replicons for mechanistic virology and rapid hypothesis testing
• RNA platforms: engineering self-amplifying RNA to tune stability, expression, and immune sensing for vaccines and therapeutics

I completed my PhD (2016–2021) at UQ's School of Biological Sciences under Prof. Sassan Asgari, where I characterised the virome of Aedes mosquitoes and their interactions with the endosymbiont Wolbachia. In 2021, I joined Prof. Alexander Khromykh's RNA Virology Laboratory at SCMB. There, I contributed to the development of the SARS-CoV-2 CPER reverse-genetics system and have worked routinely with PC3 pathogens, including West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and SARS-CoV-2. In 2026, I commenced an ARC DECRA Fellowship to investigate how modified nucleotides shape RNA structure, immune sensing, and function in next-generation RNA technologies. My current work is funded by the ARC and NHMRC.

I provide bioinformatics and phylogenetics support within UQ and internationally, and welcome collaborations involving small RNA analysis, virus discovery and metatranscriptomics.

I served on the organising committee of MicroSeq (2023–2025), an Australasian conference promoting microbial sequencing research by early-career researchers. I am the Communications Officer for ASM Queensland (2024–) and an incoming Committee of Management member for the Australasian Virology Society (2026–).