virologist

American  

[vahy-rol-uh-jist, vi-] / vaɪˈrɒl ə dʒɪst, vɪ- /

noun

1. a medical researcher or scientist who studies viruses and the diseases caused by them.

   She worked for several years as a virologist on the dengue fever vaccine development team, devising ways to weaken the virus so it could be incorporated into a vaccine.

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Etymology

Origin of virologist

virolog(y) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )

Explanation

A virologist is a scientist who studies infectious diseases. Contagious viruses like measles, mumps, the flu, and coronavirus are the particular focus of a virologist. After 19th-century scientists found that some diseases were caused by viruses, rather than bacteria or fungi, the very first virologists began examining these newly-discovered microorganisms. Today there are many advanced techniques and tools for understanding viruses and the infections they produce in humans. Virologist is from virus, originally defined as "poisonous substance," and its Latin root, which means "poison, sap of plants, or slimy liquid."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

virologist

Symptoms develop more slowly, allowing infected patients to remain well enough to move around and spread the virus before becoming severely ill, according to Corri Levine, a virologist at the University of Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

"It's an outbreak that will spread very rapidly, all the more so because it has broken out in a densely populated province," virologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe told AFP.

From Barron's ● May 18, 2026

The German native built a career in the U.S. as a brilliant virologist with significant discoveries to his credit and long had been revered among his colleagues.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2026

Seema Lakdawala, a virologist at Atlanta-based Emory University, adds another caveat: this simulation model "assumes a very efficient transmission of influenza viruses".

From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025

Ekman had tracked down a hundred thousand feet of film that had been shot by the virologist Carleton Gajdusek in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell