June Hart Almeida: Coronavirus Scientist

June Hart Almeida rose above her humble Scottish roots, and, discovered the coronavirus in 1964 when she was 34 years old.

Yes, you read that correctly. June discovered the coronavirus back in 1964 – the same virus that has brought our modern world of 2020 to its knees.

Born in 1930, June lived with her parents in a stark tenement apartment complex in the east end of industrial Glasgow.

What the apartment complex lacked in curb appeal became tolerable because of the beautiful Alexandra Park, only a short walk away.

The park allowed June to wander its meandering pathways, enjoy the blossoms of its rhododendrons, and trail her fingers in the ornate Saracen Water Fountain. Children and adults alike were drawn to its 40-foot-high showering plume.

For years, her teachers had told her she was an outstanding student with stellar grades. But smart wasn’t enough. In 1946 her four years of secondary school (high school) ended, and her father explained that his bus driver’s salary couldn’t cover university expenses.

June could have sulked, she could have indulged in a pity party, but she did neither.  She was a Scot, and strength ran in her blood.

Scanning the newspaper, she saw the possibility of applying for a job at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (hospital). She started as a lab technician in histopathology, where she would examine tissue samples for evidence of disease. This might not have been the job of her dreams, but the salary of 25 shillings a week (approximately 83 pounds sterling today) helped with her family’s expenses.

In a short period, June was pleasantly surprised that she found the lab work interesting. Studying tissue samples peeked her curious mind.

Within a few years, she moved on to a job in London, England, at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where she continued studying tissue samples. Then, in 1954, while working in London, she met and married Enrique Almeida, a Venezuelan artist.

The following year they moved with their young daughter to Toronto, Canada, and June found laboratory work at the Ontario Cancer Institute working as an electron microscopy technician. Toronto would have been a welcomed change. Most of Europe had sustained substantial bombing during WWII, but Toronto was modern and clear of destruction.

Her new job became her gateway to scientific recognition. By 1963 she began to co-author several articles in prominent scientific publications, which without a degree would have been impossible back in Britain. Most of her writings centered around the structure of viruses, which before the electron microscope had not been clearly visible.

June might have stayed with this job, but in 1964 Professor A P Waterson, the chair of the microbiology department of St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in London, met her on his visit to Toronto.

They talked about science and viruses and innovative techniques for identifying new diseases. Struck by June’s intelligence, work ethic, and her impressive skill with an electron microscope, Professor Waterson invited her to join him professionally at St. Thomas Hospital Medical School.

While this meant moving back to London, St. Thomas’ was one of the most prestigious schools in England, and June knew she would have opportunities she could not find elsewhere.

Within two years, she was working on the hepatitis B virus and the virus that causes the common cold. She then began to collaborate with Dr. David Tyrell, director of research at St. Thomas. She shared with him her original technique, called immune-electron microscopy, which allowed doctors to obtain better images of viruses.

She then earned her DSc, Doctor of Science, and was now Dr. Almeida. Together, she and Dr. Tyrrell searched to identify new viruses.

They hit upon a virus known in the lab as B814. Obtaining the sample from a nasal washing of a schoolboy, they thought he had a common cold. But under the electron microscope, Dr. June Almeida recognized the pattern of his virus was unlike any other human virus she had studied. June commented that what made B814 distinctive was the crown-like appearance of tiny spikes surrounding the rim of the virus. Together, Dr. Tyrrell and Dr. Almeida named the new human virus, coronavirus.

The year was 1964. June Hart Almeida was 34 years old.

June spent the rest of her scientific career researching and teaching other virologists. In time, her innovative techniques helped to identify many viruses.

In late 2019 the Chinese government used her electron microscopy techniques to identify a unique virus that was spreading through the Chinese population at an alarming rate.

It was the coronavirus, the same one that Dr. June Hart Almeida had discovered fifty plus years ago.

You may be asking yourself, ‘how does a young Scottish girl without any higher education go on to become a prominent scientist?’

The answer would be persistence.

I hope you have enjoyed June Hart Almeida’s story. If you are not yet a follower of Strong Women, please sign up on the right side of the blog. In the meantime, look for my newest novel, Counting Crows, that tells the story of how New Yorkers dealt with the Flu Pandemic of 1918 as it ravaged their city. So many parallels to today! www.amzn.com/1940553091.

~ Linda