Calum has studied severe virus disease outbreaks since 1989 in the fields of diagnostics, clinical characterisation, and clinical trials. He was a founder member of ISARIC. He is a Senior Government Advisor sitting on SAGE (COVID-19 response) and NERVTAG, and a former member of the WHO Scientific Technical Advisory Committee for Ebola Emergencies and UK Pandemic

Flu group. He was appointed Honorary Respiratory Physician at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Liverpool in 2006. In 2016 he and his team were awarded the Queen’s Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa 2014-16 and in 2019 he received a Commonwealth Association Award for subsequent work with Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone. He was appointed OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2020 for his role in the COVID-19 response.