Location:
The Kirby Institute Level 6 Seminar Room Wallace Wurth Building UNSW Australia Sydney NSW 2052
Open to
All
Contact for enquiriesÂ
Rata Joseph +61 (0)2 9385 0900 rjoseph@kirby.unsw.edu.au
The Kirby Institute is pleased to present:
Professor Kevin Downard
"Improved Molecular Surveillance and New Therapeutic Responses to the Influenza Virus."
Bio/Abstract:
Professor Kevin Downard conducted his postdoctoral studies and held a subsequent academic position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after award of his PhD degree from the University of Adelaide. For the past 18 years he has held professorial academic positions in the USA and Australia. For most of that time, a focus of his research has involved developing and applying new advanced mass spectrometric and bioinformatic approaches to improve the molecular surveillance, study the evolution, and identify and develop new therapeutics against the influenza virus, all of which he will discuss in his presentation. These approaches have attracted interest from global surveillance laboratories and have broader application to the surveillance of other biopathogens which threaten human health. He has received large continuous research funding from the Australian Research Council and twice received international fellowships from both the Australian Academy of Science and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences on respiratory pathogens, vaccines, infectious disease, and analysis including mass spectrometry. He was the first Australian to have received an award from the world largest mass spectrometry society.