Maria Zambon

Maria Caterina ZambonFMedSci FRCPath, is a British virologist, director of reference microbiology for Public Health England, and a professor.

In 1984, Zambon earned a PhD from the University of London (Imperial College) with a thesis titeled "Inhibition of influenza virus replication by 1-aminoadamantane". This work on "the mechanism of action of amantadine ... led directly to the identification of a novel class of viral proteins, viral ion channels (M2 protein)", a research in which she participated furtherly.

In 2011, she was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

Zambon is one of the 23 attendees of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage). She was a member of the Coronaviridae Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses and contributed to the scientific description of MERS-CoV's taxonomy.

Maria Zambon and her PHE colleague Joanna Ellis contributed to the development of the first real-time RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2, which was led by Christian Drosten.

Her main research areas include influenza vaccination and influenza hemagglutination inhibition.