Women in the European Virus Bioinformatics Center

Abstract

Viruses are the cause of a considerable burden to human, animal and plant health, while on the other hand playing an important role in regulating entire ecosystems. The power of new sequencing technologies combined with new tools for processing “Big Data” offers unprecedented opportunities to answer fundamental questions in virology. Virologists have an urgent need for virus-specific bioinformatics tools. These developments have led to the formation of the European Virus Bioinformatics Center, a network of experts in virology and bioinformatics who are joining forces to enable extensive exchange and collaboration between these research areas. The EVBC strives to provide talented researchers with a supportive environment free of gender bias, but the gender gap in science, especially in math-intensive fields such as computer science, persists. To bring more talented women into research and keep them there, we need to highlight role models to spark their interest, and we need to ensure that female scientists are not kept at lower levels but are given the opportunity to lead the field. Here we showcase the work of the EVBC and highlight the achievements of some outstanding women experts in virology and viral bioinformatics.

Navigating the Landscape: A Comprehensive Review of Current Virus Databases

“…By linking together disparate resources, these platforms contribute to the dissemination and accessibility of scientific information, promoting the efficient utilization of available resources for further research and innovation. One example is the European Virus Bioinformatics Center (EVBC) website, on which a total of 275 entries are linked, sorted by software type (such as database, command-line tool, or similar), virus family, or functionality [68,69]. Another example is iVirus.us, which provides a platform to access 27 tools and 21 datasets [70,71].…”