Virologist receives GSK Award for AI-based disease detection

World-leading virologist Professor Edward Holmes has received the 2025 GSK Award for Research Excellence (ARE) — one of the most prestigious and longstanding independent awards open to the Australian medical research community — for his pioneering use of metatranscriptomics and artificial intelligence (AI) to identify viruses, improve diagnostics and better understand how infectious disease epidemics emerge. Metatranscriptomics refers to the process of sequencing all genetic material in a sample to determine which viruses, bacteria and other pathogens are active, offering a comprehensive view of infections for faster, more accurate diagnoses.

Over the past decade, the emergence of new viruses has shown that previously unknown pathogens can trigger epidemics and, in some cases, global pandemics. Recent research estimates that there are millions of undiscovered viruses, some of which will have the potential to infect humans, underscoring the need for innovation that enables rapid detection to help prevent disease emergence and reduce future pandemic risk.

Having already gained worldwide attention for being the first to publicly release the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 — enabling global scientific collaboration that led to the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines within days of its release — Holmes and his team at The University of Sydney are now working in collaboration with clinicians at a major Australian hospital to develop a one-stop AI-based platform to rapidly identify pathogens in real patient samples, initially looking at patients with respiratory conditions. Dr Krispin Hajkowicz, a Senior Infectious Diseases Physician and Clinician Researcher at The University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research, said the ability to integrate this technology into hospital workflows could be game changing.

“When a patient is admitted with a life-threatening infection, every hour counts,” Hajkowicz said. “This technology has the potential to give us an accurate diagnosis within hours from a single sample. That speed means we can make targeted treatment decisions sooner, avoid unnecessary medications, and give patients the best chance of a faster recovery.”

The 2025 GSK ARE was presented to Holmes at the Australian Academy of Science’s Science at the Shine Dome 2025 Spring Soiree, which took place yesterday in Canberra. Holmes said the $150,000 grant accompanying the award will help accelerate the refinement of the AI platform, including investment in specialised equipment to process and analyse sequencing data at speed.

“Identifying the cause of an infection can sometimes be a complex, piecemeal process that is too slow to change the course of a patient’s illness. We are looking to change that,” Holmes said.

“Current metagenomic techniques generate enormous volumes of data, often taking days to interpret. Our platform will cut through that complexity to deliver accurate results within a clinically relevant timeframe, directly supporting better patient care.

“By pairing metatranscriptomics and advanced AI, we can now identify all the different microbes responsible for a specific infection. We are hoping to use this technique to deliver a diagnosis in as little as 24 hours, giving clinicians a critical head start in treating patients and responding to emerging threats.”

Speaking at the Spring Soiree, Dr Alan Paul, Executive Country Medical Director at GSK Australia, said, “Professor Holmes’ work is a breakthrough in how we approach infectious disease detection. By combining global expertise in virology with cutting-edge AI, he is creating a tool that could save lives, reduce healthcare costs and improve future pandemic preparedness. We are proud to support this innovation through the GSK Award for Research Excellence.”

Image caption: Dr Alan Paul presents the 2025 GSK ARE to Professor Edward Holmes.