Dr Beard is a veterinary pathologist and virologist who specialises in large DNA viruses such as poxviruses. She holds a joint Group Leader position at The Roslin Institute and The Pirbright Institute in the UK where she leads a team of researchers looking to identify better ways of controlling the high consequence transboundary animal pathogens such as sheeppox virus, goatpox virus, lumpy skin disease virus, and African swine fever virus,