Dr June Almeida, a Scottish virologist, was instrumental in identifying the first human coronavirus in the 1960s. Born in 1930 in Glasgow, Scotland, Dr Almeida left school at 16 and began training as a technician in histopathology at the Glasgow Infirmary. She later moved to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and then emigrated to Canada, where she worked at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto.
In Canada, Dr Almeida co-authored several scientific publications related to viral structures. Her work caught the attention of Professor Anthony P Waterson, who invited her to join him at St Thomas's Hospital medical school in London in 1964. There, she flourished and was awarded a DSc.
Dr Almeida’s greatest scientific legacy was her pioneering use of immuno-electron microscopy (IEM) to better image viruses. She mixed viruses with specific antibodies, which the virus then clumped around, allowing for clearer imaging. This technique was used to produce the first visualization of the rubella virus and the first image of a coronavirus in collaboration with Dr David Tyrrell.
Dr Tyrrell had been studying nasal washings from volunteers and found that some viruses could not be grown in routine cell culture. One such virus, B814, from a boy with a common cold in 1960, could not be related to any known virus. Dr Almeida and Dr Tyrrell imaged this mysterious virus in organ cultures, describing it as “like influenza viruses but not exactly the same.”
The paper was initially rejected but was eventually published in 1967. A year later, Dr Almeida and seven other virologists proposed the name “coronavirus” for the new family of viruses, referencing their “crown-like” appearance.
Dr Almeida continued to work on imaging viruses and taught others to do the same. She co-published a document for the World Health Organization in 1979 and helped take some of the first high-quality images of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after returning in an advisory role.
Dr Almeida’s work has significantly contributed to the understanding of coronaviruses, and her methods are still being used today.