Keynote Speakers

Hui-Ling Yen

Chair

Dr. Hui-Ling Yen is currently an Honorary Assistant Professor at the Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, School of Public Health, at the University of Hong Kong. She received a Ph.D in Epidemiological Science in 2005 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and carried out her post-doctoral training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, USA.

Her research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms facilitating the transmission of influenza A Virus among and between different reservoirs, exploring the potential virus-host interactions that affect viral pathogenicity and the host clinical outcome, and examining the molecular determinants that confer antiviral resistance. She has worked at understanding the fitness of neuraminidase inhibitor resistance variants of seasonal and zoonotic influenza viruses with pandemic potential.

Dr Yen is a full member of the American Society of Virology, and Editor at Antiviral Research and an Academic Editor at PLoS ONE.

Lieve Naesens

Chair

Lieve Naesens heads the research team on influenza- and coronaviruses at the Rega Institute (KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Belgium). After receiving a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Leuven in 1992, she continued working at this university where she is professor in virology since 2003. She has >30 years of experience in antiviral drug development, from initial discovery to mechanistic and preclinical evaluation. She was involved in the discovery of the leading HIV drug tenofovir and has more than 280 publications including in Nature, PNAS, Journal of Virology and Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.  

Her current research on influenza- and coronaviruses focusses on small molecule inhibitors of viral entry and viral genome replication. She has a particular interest in the influenza virus hemagglutinin and polymerase, and has discovered inhibitors of these viral proteins with relevance for pharmaceutical development. Her team collaborates with medicinal chemists, structural biologists, biochemists and virologists, to design innovative antivirals, define their mechanism of action, and translate this knowledge into a better understanding of viral replication strategies.  

Lieve serves as an expert reviewer for (inter)national funding and governmental agencies, pharmaceutical industry and leading scientific journals. She is editor-in-chief for Current Opinion in Virology, on the editorial board of Antiviral Research and a board member of the Belgian Society for Virology. 

John Arputhan Abisheganaden

Professor John Abisheganaden is Chief and Senior Consultant at Health Services and Outcomes Research (HSOR), National Healthcare Group (NHG). He holds a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh UK; a MMED (Internal Medicine) from NUS Singapore, as well as a FAMS (Respiratory Med) from the Academy of Medicine Singapore. He is also a Senior Consultant Respiratory & Critical Care Physician at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He leads the HSOR team in population decision analytics and operations research, implementation and outcomes evaluation, as well as health system performance and sustainability. He is also chair of the NHG Respiratory Health Steering Committee, and also a lead clinician for NHG’s Value-Based Care work.

Ian Barr

Professor Ian Barr is currently the Deputy Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza which was designated in 1992 (one of 5 globally).  The Centre plays a key role in the national and regional surveillance of human and zoonotic influenza viruses as well as having an active research program. Ian has over 35 years’ experience with academic and commercial organisations, including over 25 years at the Centre. He has authored or co-authored over 300 scientific publications including more than 250 peer reviewed journal articles, reviews and editorials on various aspects of influenza and RSV.

Tristan Clark

Tristan Clark is a Professor and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the University of Southampton and University Hospitals Southampton NHS trust. His research involves the assessment of diagnostic accuracy, usability, and clinical impact of novel rapid diagnostic tests for infections. He has been awarded grant funding from NIHR, Research Councils, EU, and Industry and has published results of his trials in The New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet series journals. During the COVID-19 pandemic he has acted as an advisor to the UK Department of Health and Social Care. The aim of his research is to improve patient care and experience through the evidence-based use of rapid diagnostic tests for infection.

Benjamin Cowling

Prof Cowling is currently a Professor in the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, and a member of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard School of Public Health. He is a consultant for the World Health Organisation and serves on the editorial boards of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, PLoS ONE and PLoS Currents: Outbreaks. In 2015 he was awarded a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship for his work on influenza virus epidemiology. Prof Cowling conducts research into the epidemiology of influenza and other respiratory viruses. His research team has characterized how easily seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses can spread in households, and the measures which can reduce transmission such as face masks and improved hand hygiene. His recent research has focused on the effectiveness of influenza vaccines and the complex transmission dynamics of respiratory viruses. He has authored more than 270 peer-reviewed publications.

Stephanie Goya

Dr. Stephanie Goya is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington, where she leads genomic studies on respiratory viruses including RSV, metapneumovirus, rhinoviruses, and seasonal coronaviruses. With a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires, her expertise spans viral genomics, molecular diagnostics, and public health surveillance. Dr. Goya has contributed to global efforts in genomic data standardization as a Data Scientist for GISAID and served as an external expert for the WHO on RSV surveillance. She also leads the International RSV Genotyping Consortium and is actively involved in teaching and mentoring in the fields of bioinformatics and molecular virology.

Paul Heath

Paul Heath is a Professor in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at City St George’s, University of London, where he is the Director of the Vaccine Institute. His training in paediatrics and infectious diseases was at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Australia; the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford; and St George’s Hospital, London. His research interests are in the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases, in clinical vaccine trials, particularly in at-risk groups and in perinatal infections. He coordinates a European neonatal infection surveillance network (neonIN) and the UK Paediatric Vaccine Group (UKPVG), is a member of the JCVI, chairs the NIHR Vaccine Innovation Pathway: Vaccine Research in Pregnant Participants Working Group, is co-Chair of the UK Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Forum and is a member of the WHO GBS Working Group.

Shamez Ladhani

Paul Ananth Tambyah is currently Professor of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and also Senior Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the National University Health System. After completing medical school at the National University of Singapore and infectious diseases training at the University of Wisconsin, he returned to Singapore 25 years ago and has served in a number of national and international committees including as founding head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the National University of Singapore. He is also immediate past President of both the International Society for Infectious Diseases and the Asia Pacific Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infection. He is a visiting consultant to the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Singapore and the Singapore Armed Forces. His main research interests are emerging infections including influenza clinical trials and device associated infections. 

Adam Lauring

Prof Shamez Ladhani PhD MRCPCH(UK) MSc(distinction) MBBS(hons) BSc(hons) is a paediatric infectious diseases consultant at St. George’s Hospital, professor of paediatric infectious diseases and vaccinology at St. George’s University of London and consultant epidemiologist at UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), where he is the clinical lead for a number of national vaccine preventable infections, including Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningitidis, which are all major causes of childhood bacterial meningitis. He completed his medical training at Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospitals, London, and then worked in a children’s hospital in rural Kenya. Upon returning to London, he obtained his PhD in genetic epidemiology and vaccine failure in children and completed his specialist paediatric infectious diseases training at St. George’s and Great Ormond Street Hospitals, London. In the current pandemic, he is the clinical lead for of SARS-CoV-2 in Children at UKHSA. His work has focused on national surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, PIMS-TS and long COVID, immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in children compared to adults as well as infection, transmission and outbreaks in educational settings and COVID-19 vaccines for children. He has published extensively in the field of paediatric infectious diseases and vaccine-preventable infections.

Vernon Lee

Dr. Adam Lauring is a Professor and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Lauring pursued his post-graduate clinical and research training at the University of California, San Francisco, where he completed a medical residency, an Infectious Diseases fellowship, and a postdoctoral fellowship in virology. He has been on the faculty at the University of Michigan since 2012.Dr. Lauring studies the fundamentals of how viruses mutate and how this drives the evolution of poliovirus, influenza virus, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2. His more recent work utilizes advanced sequencing of influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 samples to understand viral spread in households, healthcare settings, and across communities. He also participates in studies of influenza and COVID vaccine effectiveness. Dr. Lauring is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. He serves as Deputy Editor at the Journal of Infectious Diseases. His research on virus evolution and genomic epidemiology has been funded by grants from the NIH, CDC, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Wei Shen Lim

Prof Vernon Lee, a preventive medicine physician, has a distinguished record in globalhealth, focusing on pandemic preparedness, infectious disease epidemiology, andhealth policy. His pivotal role in Singapore’s COVID-19 strategy and his response to theSARS, influenza, and Zika outbreaks highlight his contributions.Prof Lee’s previous positions as Advisor to the WHO’s Assistant Director-General,Medical Epidemiologist in WHO Country OƯice in Indonesia, and Head of the SingaporeArmed Forces’ Biodefence Centre, demonstrate his global health security expertise. Hecontinues to serve on expert committees at the international level.A proponent of evidence-based health policy, Prof Lee has authored around 200scientific papers featured in NEJM, JAMA, and Lancet. He maintains an adjunctprofessorship at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in Singapore.His academic achievements include an MBBS from the National University ofSingapore, a PhD in epidemiology from the Australian National University, and MPH andMBA degrees from Johns Hopkins University.

Direk Limmathurotsakul

Professor Wei Shen Lim is consultant respiratory physician at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Honorary Professor of Medicine, University of Nottingham. He is chair of the Acute Respiratory Infections national research strategy group, NIHR Respiratory Translational Research Collaboration.  He developed the CURB65 severity scoring tool for community acquired pneumonia and co-led the evaluation of Dexamethasone for COVID-19 in the RECOVERY Trial.  He is chair of COVID-19 Immunisation, Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). In 2023, he led the set-up of a national Hospital-based Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance System (HARISS) in England.

Javier Martin

Dr.Limmathurotsakul is a distinguished researcher and physician specializing in melioidosis (an infection caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia pseudomallei), sepsis and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). He serves as the Head of Microbiology at the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), a Professor of Epidemiology at Mahidol University, Thailand and a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Oxford, UK. Dr. Limmathurotsakul is regarded as a global leader in melioidosis with his extensive publications on epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Using modelling and statistical approaches, he estimated that B. pseudomallei causes an infection in about 165,000 people per year worldwide, and 89,000 (54%) of those people die. He estimated that melioidosis is severely underreported in the 45 countries in which it is known to be endemic and probably endemic in a further 34 countries that have never reported the disease. He has been raising the importance of melioidosis globally, highlighting its systematic misdiagnosis in many tropical low- and middle-income countries, and providing guidance on improving its surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention worldwide.In 2015, he established and chaired the International Melioidosis Network (IMN) from 2015 to 2024. The IMN allows researchers, healthcare providers, and stakeholders to communicate, share working guidelines and laboratory protocols (www.melioidosis.info) and request support from other members worldwide http://groups.google.com/group/melioidosis

Sebastian Maurer-Stroh

Javier is a Principal Scientist at MHRA South Mimms where he leads the Polio Laboratory Group. He completed his Ph.D. studies at the Universidad Autonoma, Madrid, Spain, successfully developing a novel technique to generate genetically modified synthetic influenza viruses used to develop prospective synthetic vaccines. Javier then spent four years as a postdoctoral scientist at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London UK, where he continued his work on influenza virus. He moved to the NIBSC, now MHRA, in 1998 where he is the Head of the WHO Polio Global Specialized Laboratory supporting the WHO Global Polio Eradication Initiative both on disease surveillance and vaccine control, standardization and development.

Yoshihiko Murata

Dr. Murata is an Executive Director in Virology Clinical Development at Gilead Sciences, where he leads and oversees clinical development programs for COVID-19, respiratory viruses, and emerging viruses.  Dr. Murata is a former Medical Officer in the Division of Antiviral Drug Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US FDA.  As a faculty member in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Dr. Murata led a preclinical RSV vaccine development program, served as an investigator for anti-infectives and vaccine clinical trials, and participated as a voting member on multiple US FDA Antiviral Drug Advisory Committee meetings, including as the Committee Chairperson.  Prior to his current role at Gilead, Dr. Murata has held leadership positions in clinical development programs for biologics and drugs to prevent or treat infectious diseases at Merck, ViiV Healthcare, and Janssen.

Hanna Nohynek

Sebastian Maurer-Stroh studied theoretical biochemistry at the University of Vienna and wrote his master and PhD thesis at the Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP). After FEBS and Marie Curie fellowships at the VIB-SWITCH lab in Brussels, he has been leading the sequence analytics portfolio in the A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute (BII) since 2007 and Infectious Disease Programme since 2010. He is the Executive Director of BII since January 2021. His computational team is well known for successes at the public-private interface in Singapore from Precision Medicine to Consumer Product and Food Safety and of course for his critical contributions to national and global viral pathogen surveillance through the GISAID data science initiative that has become the single most important source for virus outbreak data sharing and analysis in this pandemic powering public health responses globally. He was awarded the 2017 A*STAR STAR Award, 2017 PS(Health) Award – Excellence (Team), 2018 Ministry of Health collaborator long-service award, 2022 Public Administration Medal (Silver) under the National Awards (COVID-19) and 2024 Public Sector Transformation Award – Exemplary Leader Award.

Peter Openshaw

Hanna Nohynek is Professor MD PhD, with special competences in vaccinology, international and travel health (FMA); Chief Physician Unit Prevention of Health Threats of Department of Public Health in Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), a governmental research agency. She was secretary, Finnish NITAG until 8/2023, still member. Chairperson of WHO SAGE since 1/2023, former chairperson of SAGE working group covid-19 vaccines (4/2020-12/2022). After PhD on diagnostic methods development, she coordinated Phase II trials & Phase III 11PCV against childhood pneumonia in the Philippines. In 2010, she joined THL to work in vaccine programme design, evidence-based policy/decision making, vaccine impact and safety, acceptance, SARS-CoV-2, RSV, influenza and avian influenza, pertussis and pneumococcus. Presently she is Principal investigator of 3 immunogenicity and safety studies: repeated influenza vaccinations among HCWs, covid-19 vaccinations and avian influenza vaccinations. She has published over 200 scientific peer reviewed publications. She co-led RSV product assessment (www.imi-promise.eu) and brand-specific influenza vaccine effectiveness projects (www.drive-eu.org). She teaches (incl ADVAC) and mentors, is in board of international organizations (icddr.b, member and IVI Emeritus Trustee), and board member and 2nd vice chair of the Wellbeing Service County of Päijät-Häme (since 6/2025). A book was published of her life and work https://kirja.fi/collections/terhi-hautamaki/products/hanna-nohynek-peloton-9789510498811 .  

Paul Ananth Tambyah

Peter Openshaw is Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, UK. A respiratory physician and mucosal immunologist, his research focuses on how the immune response both protects against viral infection but also causes disease.

He has published widely on vaccinology, the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary viral diseases and lung inflammation, especially in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19 infection. He works on human challenge in volunteers (Google Scholar and https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7220-2555).

He is a Board Member of the Science Media Centre and Director of the HIC-Vac consortium (https://www.hic-vac.org/).  He was the first clinical President of the British Society for Immunology (2013-18) and received prizes for his lifetime contribution to RSV research (Chanock Award, 2012), the European Federation of Immunological Societies Award (2014) and the Per Brandtzaeg Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in mucosal immunology (2024).

He advised the UK government on pandemics (SAGE, 2009-12; Chair/Vice-Chair of NERVTAG, 2015-2022). He was made a Commander of the British Empire for services to Medicine and Immunology in the 2022 UK New Year’s Honours and received the 2024 Imperial College Medal for his work as a Consul, reforming the university’s Ethos, Values and Behaviours.

Emma Thomson

Emma Thomson is the Director of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research. She is Clinical Professor of Infectious Diseases, specialising in viral evolution and detection of emerging viral infections. She also holds a position as Professor of Emerging Viruses at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Her research group develop and use next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods to detect new and emerging viruses in the UK and in East Africa (Uganda) and engage in improving local diagnostic capacity to allow for more rapid control interventions. Her group also work on linking the genotype of viruses with the phenotype in the laboratory and in clinical settings. She works as a consultant in infectious diseases and general (internal) medicine NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GG&C) and a PI for several vaccine studies.

Judith Wong

Dr Judith Wong has a background spanning clinical diagnostics and surveillance of viral diseases, quality assurance and multi-disciplinary research with focus on microbiology. In her recent role at the Environmental Health Institute, National Environment Agency, Singapore, she led a multidisciplinary scientific team working on various One Health initiatives including risk assessment and surveillance of vector-borne diseases, biosurveillance, and environmental monitoring of antimicrobial resistance.  Judith helped to set-up Singapore’s Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Programme, which expanded from a research initiative to a national surveillance system spanning across more than 500 locations countrywide.

Judith received her PhD in Biological Sciences from the National University of Singapore and was an ASEAN-Australian One Health Fellow with Murdoch University, Australia. She also serves as a Deputy Co-Lead for Environmental Transmission and Mitigation with the Programme for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response (PREPARE), Communicable Diseases Agency, Singapore.

Sook San Wong

Dr. Wong obtained her PhD in molecular virology, working on dengue virus, from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She subsequently completed her postdoctoral training at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, which was also the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center on the study of the ecology of influenza in lower animals. Prior to joining HKU, Dr. Wong was a PI at Guangzhou Medical University, China, where she was involved in some of the early outbreak response during early 2020. In the space of pandemic preparedness, she has been involved in risk assessments of avian influenza viruses, including H7N9 and studying the immunological correlates of protection against them. Her current laboratory’s research interest is focused on understanding the immunological and virological determinants of robust antibody responses at a population as well as at the individual level. This includes a focus on population immunity to avian influenza viruses, which will help in quantifying infection risks as well as in identifying strategies that can help mitigate the impact of avian influenza virus infections.

Mo Yin

Dr Mo Yin is the Deputy director of ADVANCE-ID clinical trial network, and an Infectious Diseases physician at the National University Hospital in Singapore. She is the lead investigator for the REGARD-VAP trial (Reducing Antibiotic Treatment Duration for Ventilator Associated Pneumonia) and the ACORN-HAI study (A Clinically-Oriented Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network for Healthcare Associated Infections). She has designed and conducted large multinational clinical trials which focus on pragmatic solutions for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. She is driven by the ideal of using quality clinical research to improve patient outcomes and propel global policies. She has received numerous awards for her achievements in clinical care, research and teaching. Dr Mo Yin obtained her MBBS from the National University of Singapore and DPhil from University of Oxford.

Maria Zambon

Professor Maria Zambon is the current Head of Respiratory Viruses and Director of the National Influenza Centre at UKHSA’s National Reference Laboratory in Colindale, London.

With 40 years of experience as a medically qualified influenza virologist, of which three decades have been at the UK public health agency, UKHSA, and its predecessor organisations, she has played a crucial role in the surveillance and response to seasonal influenza as well as new and emerging respiratory viruses over this time.

Robert Allen

Robert Allen, Ph.D. has served as our Chief Scientific Officer since April 2023. He brings over 30 years of experience across the infectious disease space, most recently as the Chief Scientific Officer of SmartPharm Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics, from 2020 to 2023. During that time, he led efforts to develop gene-encoded monoclonal antibodies for COVID-19 that could be quickly adapted to respond to emerging variants of concern. He also served concurrently as Senior Vice President, Antiviral and Oncolytic Immunotherapy Development, at Sorrento Therapeutics. Prior to his time at SmartPharm Therapeutics, he held multiple senior scientific roles across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries including Sorrento Therapeutics, SIGA Technologies, and the Oregon Translational Research and Development Institute. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Columbia University, an M.S. in Applied Biology from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in Biology from Rhodes College. He has published extensively in the field of virology and completed his postdoctoral training in virology at Washington University in St. Louis and Emory University.

Marco Cavaleri

Marco Cavaleri is Head of Department, Public Health Threats. He is the Chair of EMA Emergency Task Force (ETF) and responsible for EMA activities for emergent pathogens, vaccines and AMR. He has been leading the EMA activities during the COVID-19 pandemic on vaccines and therapeutics.He serves in different advisory groups at WHO, including PDVAC, R&D Blueprint TAG on prioritisation of therapeutics and clinical trials working group. Marco Cavaleri is a Pharmacologist who spent several years in industry in R&D mainly in the area of anti-infectives covering different positions in preclinical and clinical development of new antibacterial, antitubercular and antifungal agents.He has expertise in microbiology, animal models, vaccines,  translational science and clinical trials.He is co-author of several publications related to vaccines, infectious diseases and regulation of medicines.

Benjamin Cowling

Prof Cowling is currently a Professor in the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, and a member of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard School of Public Health. He is a consultant for the World Health Organisation and serves on the editorial boards of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, PLoS ONE and PLoS Currents: Outbreaks. In 2015 he was awarded a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship for his work on influenza virus epidemiology. Prof Cowling conducts research into the epidemiology of influenza and other respiratory viruses. His research team has characterized how easily seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses can spread in households, and the measures which can reduce transmission such as face masks and improved hand hygiene. His recent research has focused on the effectiveness of influenza vaccines and the complex transmission dynamics of respiratory viruses. He has authored more than 270 peer-reviewed publications.

Carisa De Anda

Carisa De Anda is an accomplished clinical research professional with over 30 years of experience, specializing in infectious diseases. Since joining MSD in 2015 as Executive Director of Clinical Research in the Infectious Diseases therapeutic area, she has successfully led pivotal trials for a range of antibacterials and antivirals. Notably, Carisa has played a key role in the product development of several important therapies, including SIVEXTRO® (tedizolid phosphate), ZERBAXA® (ceftolozane and tazobactam), and RECARBRIO™ (imipenem, cilastatin, and relebactam). Since January 2021, she has been at the forefront of the product development team for LAGEVRIO™ (molnupiravir), contributing significantly to advancements in the treatment of infectious diseases.

Elena Govorkova

Dr. Elena Govorkova heads the research team on influenza antiviral studies in the Department of Host-Microbe Interactions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA and is a leading scientist in the NIAID Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response. She received a medical degree from Moscow Medical Academy and a PhD in Virology at the DI Ivanovsky Institute of Virology, Moscow, Russia. For a number of years Dr. Govorkova worked at The DI Ivanovsky Institute of Virology in the Influenza laboratory collaborating with the World Health Organization.

In 1993 she joined the laboratory of Professor Robert G. Webster at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Govorkova’s research interests are primarily focused on evaluation of antiviral drugs against highly pathogenic influenza viruses on enzymatic and cellular levels, as well as in the animal models. Her work has involved investigation of advantages/disadvantages of combinations of antiviral drugs that target different viral proteins and have different mechanisms of action on the reduction of influenza virus replication in vitro, protection in animals and emergence and fitness of resistant variants.

She is the author of over 150 original research publications and review papers in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to patents and awards. Dr. Govorkova is a member of a number of professional societies and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Antiviral Research, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Vaccines. She is actively sharing her expertise to mentor and train graduate students and Postdoctoral Fellows.

Frederick G Hayden

Dr Hayden is Stuart S. Richardson Professor Emeritus of Clinical Virology and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.  He received his medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1973 and completed his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Strong Memorial Hospital, University of Rochester, New York.  Dr Hayden joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1978, became Richardson Professor in 1990, and transitioned to emeritus status in 2015. During 2006-2008 he served as a medical officer in the Global Influenza Programme at the World Health Organization, Geneva and during 2008-2012 as influenza research coordinator at the Wellcome Trust, London.

His principle research interests have been on respiratory viral infections with a particular focus on the development and application of antiviral agents for influenza, rhinovirus, and coronavirus infections. He has conducted studies of influenza antivirals for over four decades and contributed to the development of seven agents approved for clinical use in one or more countries. During the COVID-19 pandemic he collaborated with colleagues in China to conduct the first controlled trials of candidate antivirals in hospitalized patients in Wuhan and has served as a consultant to platform studies (UK CTAP- RECOVERY, ACTIV), academic groups, and industry regarding the selection of therapeutics for clinical trials.  He has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers, chapters, and other articles, and co-edits the textbook Clinical Virology. In 2019 Dr Hayden received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Influenza Research from International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viral Diseases.

Vernon Lee

Peter Openshaw is Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, UK. A respiratory physician and mucosal immunologist, his research focuses on how the immune response both protects against viral infection but also causes disease.

He has published widely on vaccinology, the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary viral diseases and lung inflammation, especially in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19 infection. He works on human challenge in volunteers (Google Scholar and https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7220-2555).

He is a Board Member of the Science Media Centre and Director of the HIC-Vac consortium (https://www.hic-vac.org/).  He was the first clinical President of the British Society for Immunology (2013-18) and received prizes for his lifetime contribution to RSV research (Chanock Award, 2012), the European Federation of Immunological Societies Award (2014) and the Per Brandtzaeg Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award in mucosal immunology (2024).

He advised the UK government on pandemics (SAGE, 2009-12; Chair/Vice-Chair of NERVTAG, 2015-2022). He was made a Commander of the British Empire for services to Medicine and Immunology in the 2022 UK New Year’s Honours and received the 2024 Imperial College Medal for his work as a Consul, reforming the university’s Ethos, Values and Behaviours.

Peter Openshaw

Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, is a Full Member and Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN as well as Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the St Jude Graduate School of the Biomedical Sciences. She serves as Co-Director of not only the Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Response but also the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Center, both research centers supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Schultz-Cherry received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham investigating extracellular matrix and growth factor interactions. After a short postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying influenza virus-induced apoptosis and cellular responses, she served as a Lead Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens, GA, doing research on emerging highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses and astroviruses. She subsequently joined the faculty in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison Medical School rising to become tenured Associate Professor before moving to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2009.

Dr. Schultz-Cherry is recognized internationally for her studies on the pathogenesis of influenza and enteric viruses, especially astroviruses, in high-risk populations, and on the interactions of influenza viruses among different avian species and other animals and humans. She is the author and co-author of over 200 research articles, reviews, and book chapters and has lectured internationally.  She has been a member of the editorial boards of several prominent journals and is now the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Virology.

Dr. Schultz-Cherry has served on the National Institutes of Health study sections and other of its institutional committees. She was elected President of the American Society for Virology in 2017, is the current chair of the Public and Scientific Affairs Committee for the American Society for Microbiology and is an American Academy of Microbiology Fellow. Since 2012 she has been Deputy Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds.

Stacey Schultz-Cherry

Dr. Takeki Uehara received his DVM degree from the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan, in 2002. He then joined SHIONOGI, where he has worked for over 20 years.

As a research scientist, Dr. Uehara has authored multiple publications and, in 2008, earned a PhD in Veterinary Medicine from Osaka Prefecture University. His research career includes serving as a visiting research scientist in Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In SHIONOGI’s Development Department, Dr. Uehara serves as the Global Project Leader for baloxavir and ensitrelvir, contributing to the successful development of these antivirals. Currently, he holds the position of Corporate Officer, Senior VP at Shionogi, serving as the Global Head of Development and Regulatory Affairs.

Dr. Uehara has published approximately 100 peer-reviewed papers and has organized international workshops and educational courses at several global conferences.

Takeki Uehara

Dr. Cameron Wolfe is a Professor of Medicine, in the Transplant Infectious Diseases Division at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.   

Cameron maintains an active clinical practice in transplant and HIV medicine, and during the pandemic has led the Duke Health System and University COVID taskforces, trying to respond to the pandemic. He has been an investigator for multiple interventional inpatient and outpatient respiratory viral treatment and prevention trials and was a member of the NIH COVID19 Treatment Guidelines committee.  His principal area of clinical research is in safety and availability of organ donation, and respiratory viral disease and prevention in the immunosuppressed patients. 

Cameron is a faculty member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, and serves as clinical lead for management of emerging biothreats or the university.  This role has led him to be in charge of university response to such issues as ebola, zika, covid, mpox and most recently measles.  He holds an Adjunct Instructor role at The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, lecturing in emerging biothreats and applied epidemiology.  He is the current President of the Infectious Disease Section of the International Society for Lung & Heart Transplant, and the President-elect for the Transplant Infectious Disease Society. 

Cameron Wolfe