4th Edition of the School of Respiratory Viruses

Organisers: Hassan Zaraket American University of Beirut, John Wood (NIBSC, UK) , Jackie Katz (CDC, USA), Rebecca Cox (University of Bergen, Norway)

Participants: 74 students from Lebanon and 20 other countries across the Eastern Mediterranean Region, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and South-East Asia

Lars Haaheim Travel scholarship supported 4 students. Wellcome Trust supported four student travel awards. WHO EMRO and SEARO regional offices supported their personnel attendance.

The five day School focused on influenza and MERS-CoV, including epidemiology and transmission dynamics, virology and genetic characterization, diagnostic techniques, prevention and control strategies, vaccination and immune response and pandemic preparedness and management as well as pandemic preparedness simulation exercise, laboratory rotations in influenza virus research techniques. Nine students presented their own research.

The School was accredited European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) providing 31 European CME credits (ECMEC).

Faculty highlights: 21 local, regional, and international leading expert speakers

Social school dinner

Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 88% of students** found the talks either “useful” or “extremely useful”. High praise for international faculty and networking opportunities. A highlight was the role-playing exercise described as both was fun and very informative.

Session/ Theme	Title		Speaker (Affiliation)
Day 1: 7 May 2018
Welcome and Introduction to the School and isirv			Hassan Zaraket (American University of Beirut, Lebanon) John Wood (NIBSC, UK – retired)
Welcome to the American University of Beirut			Mohammad Sayegh (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
Introduction of Department of Experimental Pathology, Immunology, and Microbiology			Ghazi Zaatari (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
Epidemiology and Ecology	Human influenza, burden of disease		Hassan Zaraket (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
	Influenza in the Eastern Mediterranean region		Mamunur Rahman Malik (Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office, WHO, Egypt)
	SARI surveillance Lebanon		Nada Ghosn (Ministry of Public Health, Lebanon)
	Outpatient influenza surveillance in Lebanon		Ghassan Dbaibo (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
	Animal influenza		Isabella Monne (OIE reference laboratory / FAO reference centre for avian influenza and Newcastle disease, Italy)
	Influenza at the human animal interface		Richard Webby (WHO Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA)
	MERS-CoV, influenza and Hajj: burden and challenges		Ziad Memish (Alfaisal University, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia; Emory University, USA)
	MERS-CoV surveillance and ecology		Ziad Memish (Alfaisal University, Ministry of Health, KSA; Emory University, USA)
Virology	Influenza virus structure, replication, and pathogenesis		Maria Zambon (Public Health England, UK)
	MERS-CoV structure, replication, and pathogenesis		Stanley Perlman (University of Iowa, USA)
Day 2: 8 May 2018
Diagnosis and Analysis tools	Genetic databases and analysis tools (NCBI and GISAID)		Isabella Monne (OIE reference laboratory / FAO reference centre for avian influenza and Newcastle disease, Italy)
	Influenza and MERS-CoV Diagnostic tools: current and future perspectives		Maria Zambon (Public Health England, UK)
Prevention and Control: Vaccines I	Influenza vaccines		John Wood (Formerly NIBSC, UK)
	The immune response to influenza infections and immune correlates of protection		Ali Ellebedy (Washington University, USA)
	Influenza vaccine virus selection process		John Wood (Formerly NIBSC, UK)
	Role of host immune responses in protection, in immunopathological disease and in diagnosis in patients and experimentally infected animals with MERS-CoV.		Stanley Perlman (University of Iowa, USA)
	Original antigenic sin and antibody responses to drifted influenza viruses		Joshy Jacob (Emory University, USA)
Students’ Presentations
Day 3: 9 May 2018
Prevention and Control: Vaccines II	Effectiveness of inactivated influenza vaccines		Ghassan Dbaibo (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
	Vaccines and strategy implementation		George Kassianos (Royal College of General Practitioners, UK)
Students’ Presentations
Prevention and Control: Vaccines II	Universal influenza vaccines		Hadi Yassine (Qatar University, Qatar
	Influenza vaccine policies and implementation in the EMR		Nada Melhem (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
	Challenges in the Diagnostics & Prevention Strategies of MERS-CoV		Ziad Memish (Alfaisal University, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia; Emory University, USA)
	Regulatory challenges for influenza vaccines		Ralf Wagner (Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany)
Therapeutic Strategies	Mechanisms of action and resistance of antivirals		Hassan Zaraket (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
	Effectiveness of live-attenuated influenza vaccines		Alicia Fry (CDC, USA)
Social event- Beit Ward Restaurant, Rawche
Therapeutic Strategies II		Harnessing ancient innate immune mediators to combat modern day pathogens	Joshy Jacob (Emory University, USA)
Student presentations
		Treating influenza with neuraminidase inhibitors	Jonathan Van Tam (Deputy Chief Medical Officer, England)
		Update on avian influenza viruses in human and birds in Egypt	Ghazi Kayali (Human Link, Lebanon)
Pandemic Preparedness/ Lab Practice		Pandemic preparedness	Chloe Sellwood (NHS, UK)
		Pandemic preparedness workshop	Led by Chloe Sellwood (NHS, UK)
		Laboratory practice	Virus isolation in eggs and cells; titration; detection– CIDR lab
Day 5: 9 May 2018
Guest Lectures: Research Workshop		Prevention and Care of Respiratory Virus Infections in Immunocompromised Children	Miguela Caniza (St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA)
		Immunogenicity testing using viral pseudo-types	Hadi Yassine (Qatar University, Qatar
		Broadening vaccine efficacy: harnessing the HA stalk immune response	Ali Ellebedy (Washington University, USA)
		New avenues for antiviral discovery	Hassan Zaraket (American University of Beirut, Lebanon)
Keynote Speaker		How to prevent a major disease outbreak –from SARS to MERS	Ab Osterhaus (Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonosis, Germany Erasmus University, Netherlands)
		Influenza in the past, present and future	Ab Osterhaus (Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonosis, Germany, Erasmus University, Netherlands)
Closing Remarks