"Pandemic Diseases: A Universal Influenza Virus Vaccine and an NDV-vectored Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine"

This week's speaker is Peter Palese, a professor of microbiology and the Chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Palese's research is in the area of RNA-containing viruses with a special emphasis on influenza viruses. Specifically, he established the first genetic maps for influenza A, B, and C viruses, identified the function of several viral genes, and defined the mechanism of neuraminidase inhibitors (which are now FDA-approved antivirals). He was also a pioneer in the field of reverse genetics for negative strand RNA viruses, which allows the introduction of site-specific mutations into the genomes of these viruses. This technique is crucial for the study of the structure/function relationships of viral genes, for investigation of viral pathogenicity and for development and manufacture of novel vaccines.

Organized by Janelia's Sarada Viswanathan and Loren Looger, the Science of COVID-19 seminar series brings in outside experts, covers papers and preprints, and highlights local efforts in testing, production, and analysis.

LEARN MORE: www.janelia.org/scienceofcovid19