June started her career working in histopathology at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and then moved to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. In 1954 she moved to the Ontario Cancer Institute, where she worked as an electron microscopy technician. While in Ontario she was awarded Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) for electron micrographic research of antibodies.
In 1964 June joined the research team at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London. She worked on the hepatitis B virus and also cold viruses, as well as a new virus in humans that at the time was given the identifier B814. June used electron microscopy to photograph organ cultures containing B814, and noticed that the structure of the virus particles was similar to two other viruses she had previously studied - infectious bronchitis of chickens, and mouse hepatitis liver inflammation. Her previous papers on the chicken and mouse viruses had been rejected by reviewers, who believed that the viruses were actually known flu viruses. However, with the evidence from B814, June now knew that she was looking at a new, and previously unidentified group of viruses.
June's photographs of the new viruses showed that they appeared to be surrounded by a distinctive 'halo' - caused by protein spikes on the surface of the virus. The latin for 'halo' is 'corona', and so this family of viruses became known as 'coronaviruses'.
As well as her work on coronaviruses, June also continued to work on hepatitis B, and in the 1980s she was involved in producing micrographs of the HIV virus. Later in her career she worked at the Wellcome Institue, and in retirement she maintained an advisory role at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School.
Here's a photo of her topical namesake, queen June:
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