Michael Malim received his DPhil in Biochemistry from Oxford University in 1987, and then moved to Duke University to train as a virologist, where he worked on HIV-1. He joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992, and returned to his native UK in 2001 to establish the Department of Infectious Diseases at King's College London. He is currently Professor of Infectious Diseases and Senior Vice Dean for Academic Strategy & Partnerships in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King’s.

His laboratory studies the processes, factors and mechanisms that regulate the replication of pandemic human viruses, including HIV-1, influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2. In recent years, his group has focused on innate and intrinsic immunity, and were the first to describe the anti-viral properties of APOBEC3 proteins, MX2 and NCOA7. Broader objectives of his work include highlighting potential strategies for viral control or eradication, as well as understanding the fundamental principles of animal and cell biology.

He has served on numerous advisory boards and grant & fellowship review panels in the US and Europe, is Editor-in-Chief for the Open Access journal PLOS Pathogens, and was recently Vice President (non-clinical) of the Academy of Medical Sciences. In 2021, he was awarded Officier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques (République Française).