About
Dr Carla Vieira is a Molecular Arbovirologist with over 13 years of research experience in arbovirus ecology, molecular diagnostics, and zoonotic disease surveillance. She completed her PhD in Virology and Public Health at QUT (2024) and before that a Master’s in Health Science at UFMT, Brazil (2019). Her research focused on mosquito-based diagnostic and genomic tools to investigate the transmission of arboviruses, including Dengue, Zika, Mayaro, and Ross River viruses. Carla’s work integrated fieldwork, high-throughput sequencing, and bioinformatics to explore the genomic diversity and transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne viruses.
Her findings have informed surveillance strategies in collaboration with Queensland Health, NSW Health, and local government bodies. She has received multiple recognitions, including the 2024 SAGE HDR Student Publication Prize, a nomination for the AIPS Florey Next Generation Award, and a 2023 EMBL Australia
Short-Term Travel Grant, which supported bioinformatics training at EMBL-EBI (UK) and a research stay at the BNITM (Germany).
Dr Vieira’s current research focuses on investigating mosquito–virus interactions that shape vector competence and virus evolution, with implications for developing targeted interventions and improving arbovirus outbreak control. At QIMR Berghofer, she
contributes to mentoring, science communication, and collaborative virology research across Australia, Brazil, the USA and Europe.
Research Skills
Dr Vieira expertise includes a multidisciplinary skill set in arbovirus research, combining laboratory diagnostics, field entomology, and phylogenetics. She is experienced in RNA extraction, quantitative PCR, bloodmeal analysis, and meta-transcriptomics for virus discovery and characterisation. Carla has led mosquito surveillance projects across diverse ecological regions and developed and optimised molecular protocols for detecting and sequencing arboviruses and insect-specific viruses.
Her bioinformatics expertise includes viral genome assembly, phylogenetics, and spatial-temporal analysis of disease incidence. She uses integrated approaches to understand host–vector–virus dynamics and is experienced in science communication and
collaborative research with government and academic stakeholders.
Area of Interest
- Mosquito–virus interactions
- Arbovirus transmission ecology
- Arbovirus surveillance
- Virome sequencing
- Zoonotic spillover
- Mosquito control
Professional Associations
- The Australian Society for Microbiology
- Australasian Virology Society
- The Mosquito Control Association of Australia
Publications
1. Massey, A. L.; Silva, D. J. F.; Vieira, C. J. S. P.; Allen, J. M.; Canale, G. R.; São-Bernardo, C. S.; Bronzoni, R. V. M.; Peres, C. A.; Levi, T. Using iDNA to determine impacts of Amazonian deforestation on Leishmania hosts, vectors, and their interactions. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 19(3):e0012925, 27 March 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012925.
2. Vieira, C. J. S. P.; Onn, M. B.; Shivas, M. A.; Shearman, D.; Darbro, J.; Graham, M.; Freitas, L.; van den Hurk, A.; Frentiu, F. D.; Wallau, G. L.; Devine, G. J. Long-term co-circulation of multiple arboviruses in South East Australia revealed by xeno-monitoring and viral whole-genome sequencing. Virus Evolution. 10(1):veae103, 25 November 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ve/veae103.