Dr Michael M Nevels worked as WSV secretary from 2020-2022, and WSV Treasurer – Elect [Europe] from 2022-2024. He received his PhD from the University of Regensburg (Germany), trained at Princeton University (USA) and joined the University of St Andrews (UK) as a Reader in 2015. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Regensburg and serves as an editor for Front Microbiol and PLoS One. Dr Nevels has >20 years of experience in virology, and his work has been published in highly recognized journals. Research in the Nevels lab currently centres on epigenetic and innate immune mechanisms controlling the outcome of infections by the human cytomegalovirus (CMV). CMV, one of eight human herpesviruses, is a major opportunistic pathogen in immunosuppressed patients and a leading cause of birth defects worldwide. The Nevels lab has been supported by the German Research Foundation, the European Union, the Human Frontier Science Program, the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and other funding agencies.