Influenza viruses can cause pandemics with considerable impact to public health. Increased understanding about which influenza viruses may spread between humans in the future and why they would do so, can be beneficial for prediction of future pandemics and pandemic preparedness. Yet the research that may lead to such increased understanding by creating “airborne” H5N1 birdflu virus has been under serious debate for reasons of safety and security. Professor Dr. Fouchier will discuss his research program to increase understanding of influenza virus virulence and transmission and the controversy it has created.
Ron Fouchier (1966) received a PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 1995 and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania until 1998. His current work at Erasmus MC Rotterdam is focused on the evolution and molecular biology of respiratory viruses, with special emphasis on influenza virus zoonoses and pandemics. He is an alumni member of the Young Academy of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW), recipient of the Heine-Medin award of the European Society for Clinical Virology, author of >200 peer-reviewed publications and received prestigious funding through KNAW, NWO-VICI and NIH/NIAID.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Thomas C. Mettenleiter