Ina Smith

Ina is a Senior Research Scientist and Team Leader of Rabbit Biocontrol at the CSIRO. She has a strong interest in viruses, emerging infectious diseases and surveillance.

Her current area of research is in caliciviruses and improving rabbit biocontrol

Ina completed her PhD at the Queensland University of Technology researching Dengue virus. She was then employed in the Public Health Virology laboratory at Queensland Health Forensic and Scientific Services for 13 years in a range of roles including Research and Development Coordinator. She has extensive knowledge and expertise in human diagnostics. It was during this time that she developed an interest in bat borne and zoonotic diseases.She was involved in the diagnosis of a human case of Australian Bat Lyssavirus as well as cases of Hendra virus in humans and horses. Ina joined CSIRO at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in 2009 where she continued her interest in zoonotic diseases. She has been involved in the isolation and characterisation of many viruses and has experience in a range of traditional and molecular virological techniques.

Ina is currently based at CSIRO's Black Mountain Laboratories, in Canberra. Her current interests are in developing 3D organoids/spheroids for the growth of viruses as an alternative to live animals.