Dr Charles Foster is a Bioinformatics Research Associate in the Virology Research Lab at University of New South Wales/Prince of Wales Hospital: http://www.virologyresearch.unsw.edu.au/people/scientists/charles-foster/

Dr Foster completed his Bachelor of Science (Advanced) degree at the University of Sydney, receiving 1^st Class Honours and the University Medal for his research into the evolution of the Australian flora. Dr Foster’s PhD research focused heavily on developing bioinformatics skills for research into the evolution of different biological groups, with a specific focus on using phylogenomics to understand the evolution of flowering plants. Dr Foster received an award for the best PhD thesis in his year of completion.

Dr Foster’s previous postdoctoral research focused on using transcriptomics to understand the changes in gene expression that underpin pregnancy in different vertebrate groups (mammals, lizards, sharks). Currently, Dr Foster is responsible for developing pipelines for genomic analysis of viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2, within the Virology Research Laboratory. These duties include routine genomic sequencing of viral samples from positive COVID-19 cases, as well as urgent cases flagged by NSW Health.