World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
Edward C. Holmes

Edward C. Holmes

Award Badge
Best Scientists
2025
Award Badge
Medicine
Australia
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Best Scientists

D-Index
173
Citations
137970
World Ranking
765
National Ranking
19

Microbiology

D-Index
179
Citations
146482
World Ranking
7
National Ranking
1

Molecular Biology

D-Index
169
Citations
109339
World Ranking
48
National Ranking
1

Medicine

D-Index
178
Citations
145909
World Ranking
385
National Ranking
9

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Medicine in Australia Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Medicine in Australia Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2024 - Research.com Genetics and Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Genetics and Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Medicine in Australia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Microbiology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Genetics and Molecular Biology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Microbiology in Australia Leader Award
  • 2021 - Prime Minister's Prize for Science, Australia For his transformative role in the scientific response to COVID-19
  • 2017 - Australian Laureate Fellowship
  • 2017 - Australian Laureate Fellow
  • 2017 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 1996 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Edward C. Holmes is affiliated with the University of Sydney in Australia. Their research covers a broad spectrum within medicine and agricultural and biological sciences, focusing mainly on infectious diseases and related subfields.

Their main fields of study include:

  • Medicine
  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Key subfields of study encompass:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Animal Science and Zoology
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Ecology

Their research addresses diverse topics such as:

  • Animal Virus Infections Studies
  • Viral Infections and Vectors
  • SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
  • Plant Virus Research Studies
  • Mosquito-borne diseases and control

Holmes has published extensively, with recent notable papers including:

  • "A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China," 2020, Nature
  • "Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding," 2020, The Lancet
  • "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2," 2020, Nature Medicine
  • "A dynamic nomenclature proposal for SARS-CoV-2 lineages to assist genomic epidemiology," 2020, Nature Microbiology
  • "Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins," 2020, Nature

Frequent co-authors who have collaborated with Holmes include:

  • Mǎng Shī
  • Jemma L. Geoghegan
  • Jonathon C. O. Mifsud
  • Erin Harvey
  • John-Sebastian Eden

Holmes regularly publishes in the following venues:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Virus Evolution
  • Viruses
  • Journal of Virology
  • Cell

Their awards include:

  • Prime Minister's Prize for Science, Australia, 2021, for their transformative role in the scientific response to COVID-19
  • Australian Laureate Fellowship, 2017
  • Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom, 2017
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1996

Best Publications

  • Genomic characterisation and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding.

    Roujian Lu;Xiang Zhao;Juan Li;Peihua Niu

  • A new coronavirus associated with human respiratory disease in China.

    Fan Wu;Su Zhao;Bin Yu;Yan Mei Chen

  • The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2.

    Kristian G. Andersen;Kristian G. Andersen;Andrew Rambaut;W. Ian Lipkin;Edward C. Holmes

  • A dynamic nomenclature proposal for SARS-CoV-2 lineages to assist genomic epidemiology.

    Andrew Rambaut;Edward C. Holmes;Áine O’Toole;Verity Hill

  • A Metagenomic Survey of Microbes in Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder

    Diana L. Cox-Foster;Sean Conlan;Edward C. Holmes;Edward C. Holmes;Gustavo Palacios

  • Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins.

    Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam;Na Jia;Ya-Wei Zhang;Marcus Ho-Hin Shum

  • Classification of hepatitis C virus into six major genotypes and a series of subtypes by phylogenetic analysis of the NS-5 region

    P. Simmonds;E. C. Holmes;T.-A. Cha;S.-W. Chan

  • Rates of evolutionary change in viruses: patterns and determinants.

    Siobain Duffy;Laura A. Shackelton;Edward C. Holmes;Edward C. Holmes

  • New world bats harbor diverse influenza A viruses.

    Suxiang Tong;Xueyong Zhu;Yan Li;Mang Shi

  • Redefining the invertebrate RNA virosphere

    Mang Shi;Xian-Dan Lin;Jun-Hua Tian;Liang-Jun Chen

  • Unifying the epidemiological and evolutionary dynamics of pathogens.

    Bryan T. Grenfell;Oliver G. Pybus;Julia R. Gog;James L. N. Wood

  • Molecular Evolution: A Phylogenetic Approach

    Roderic D. M. Page;Edward C. Holmes

  • Assignment of epidemiological lineages in an emerging pandemic using the pangolin tool.

    Áine O'Toole;Emily Scher;Anthony Underwood;Ben Jackson

  • The genomic and epidemiological dynamics of human influenza A virus

    Andrew Rambaut;Oliver G. Pybus;Martha I. Nelson;Cecile Viboud

  • HIV evolution: CTL escape mutation and reversion after transmission.

    A J Leslie;K J Pfafferott;P Chetty;R Draenert

  • Cross-Species Virus Transmission and the Emergence of New Epidemic Diseases

    Colin R. Parrish;Edward C. Holmes;David M. Morens;Eun Chung Park

  • Why do RNA viruses recombine

    Etienne Simon-Loriere;Edward C. Holmes;Edward C. Holmes

  • The causes and consequences of HIV evolution.

    Andrew Rambaut;David Posada;Keith A. Crandall;Edward C. Holmes

  • The origin, emergence and evolutionary genetics of dengue virus

    Edward C Holmes;S Susanna Twiddy

  • Rates of molecular evolution in RNA viruses: a quantitative phylogenetic analysis.

    Gareth M. Jenkins;Andrew Rambaut;Oliver G. Pybus;Edward C. Holmes

  • A Genomic Perspective on the Origin and Emergence of SARS-CoV-2.

    Yong Zhen Zhang;Edward C. Holmes;Edward C. Holmes

Frequent Co-Authors

Mang Shi
Mang Shi Sun Yat-sen University
Andrew Rambaut
Andrew Rambaut University of Edinburgh
Elodie Ghedin
Elodie Ghedin National Institutes of Health
Oliver G. Pybus
Oliver G. Pybus University of Oxford
Colin R. Parrish
Colin R. Parrish Cornell University
Martha I. Nelson
Martha I. Nelson National Institutes of Health
Bryan T. Grenfell
Bryan T. Grenfell Princeton University
Peter Simmonds
Peter Simmonds University of Oxford
Dominic E. Dwyer
Dominic E. Dwyer University of Sydney
David E. Wentworth
David E. Wentworth Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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