Avenger of the Week | June Almeida

Did you know that the person who discovered the first coronavirus was a woman? Though she had almost no formal education, June Almeida became a lab technician, working in Europe before moving to Canada. It was there that she fine-tuned her skill, and “pioneered a method which better visualized viruses by using antibodies to aggregate them.” Recognized for her expertise, she was recruited to go back to London, which is where she studied the common cold and discovered the first coronavirus. Her discovery was initially rejected from a peer-reviewed journal when the editors claimed her coronavirus images were “just bad pictures of the influenza virus.” Her discovery was eventually acknowledged and published, and Almeida continued her successful virus imaging career, even assisting with some of the first images of HIV.

🔬 Though her discovery was initially deemed a “bad image of the influenza virus,” @GenderAvenger #AvengerOfTheWeek June Almeida eventually got the credit she deserved for discovering the first #coronavirus. #GenderAvenger https://www.genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-june-almeida