Andrés Antón

Hi, I am Andrés, and this is a brief description of my professional career. Until November 2012, I was a researcher in the reference laboratory for the virological surveillance of respiratory viruses in Catalonia at National Influenza Center led by Professor Tomàs Pumarola and located in Hospital Clinic in Barcelona, where I was further participating in the virological surveillance of measles, rubella and mumps virus for the sentinel surveillance networks coordinated by the Public Health Agency of the Catalan Government. I completed my doctoral thesis in this centre analysing the data obtained from the surveillance of influenza and other respiratory viruses during the period 2007-2012. Since December 2012, I am the Head of the Respiratory Virus Unit of the Microbiology Department at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, a tertiary university hospital in the largest hospital complex in Catalonia. During the last decade, my main lines of research are the study of respiratory viruses and their genetic diversity, with special emphasis on influenza viruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), enteroviruses and metapneumoviruses, participating in competitive and non-competitive National and European projects, to reinforce their surveillance in Catalonia, taking into account that well-understood surveillance is accomplished joining efforts between hospital and primary care settings. Therefore, some of the great responsibilities acquired during the last years are as follows. Annually, my hospital unit is providing virological data from influenza viruses detected at the hospital and primary care settings based on partial or whole-genome sequencing. As well, I am the promoter and leader of the Catalan hospital-based network for RSV surveillance, which is composed of fourteen paediatric hospitals, which allows providing real-time data to monitor RSV circulation and genetic diversity. Also, and due to our concern during the 2016 rhomboencephalitis outbreak associated to EV-A71, I strengthened the surveillance of non-polio enterovirus related to respiratory, HFMD/herpagina and CNS diseases, both in out-patient and in-patient populations in Barcelona city, becoming therefore an active participant of the European Non-Polio Enterovirus Network (www.enpen.eu). Since January 2020, when SARS-CoV-2 was only a concern in Europe, I am leading the growing working team in the hospital laboratory for the detection and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 by whole genome sequencing, applying all the expertise acquired the last years for the genetic characterization of influenza, RSV, enterovirus and metapneumovirus, among others, as demonstrated in my publications in peer-to-peer journals and my presentations in National and International meetings.