Dr. Isabella Eckerle’s research interests are the laboratory-based risk assessment of emerging viruses. This includes the development of cell culture models from reservoir hosts such as bats and rodents, the assessment of viral diversity and virus discovery in both humans and animals and the epidemiology of novel emerging viruses with a focus on coronaviruses. Further research interests in the field of clinical virology include novel and improved diagnostics for emerging viruses. Since the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, her research focusses on clinical virology, studies on the role of children and risk assessment of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants.