International Conference on Influenza August 24-26, 2015 West Drayton, London, UK

Hiroshi Kida, DVM, PhD, Member of the Japan Academy, is Professor Emeritus, Head of the Research Center for Zoonosis Control at Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, Head of the OIE Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza, and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Zoonoses Control. He has experiences of the development of influenza and leptospirosis vaccines as Research Officer at Takeda Chemical Industries, Ltd (1969-1976). Since 1976, he has devoted himself to research and education at Hokkaido University and been the recipient of several awards and honors such as Japan Academy Prize for “Studies on Control of Influenza -Mechanism of Emergence of Pandemic Influenza Virus Strains in Poultry, Domestic Animals and Humans, and Molecular Basis of the Neutralization of Viral Infectivity with Antibodies”. He is the author of 304 original articles and 142 book chapters and reviews.

His research interest includes ecology and pathogenesis of influenza viruses, zoonoses control, and vaccinology.

Dr. Webster received his BSc and MSc in Microbiology from Otago University in New Zealand. In 1962, he earned his PhD from the Australian National University and spent the next two years as a Fullbright Scholar working on influenza in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.He is the Rose Marie Thomas Chair of the Virology Division, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Director, WHO Collaborating Center on the Ecology of Influenza Viruses in Lower Animals and Birds. Robert G. Webster is Professor in the Division of Virology, Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds.His curriculum vitae contains over 480 original articles and reviews on influenza viruses. He has trained many scientists who now contribute to our understanding of the evolution and pathogenesis of influenza.

His interests include the emergence and control of influenza viruses, viral immunology, the structure and function of influenza virus proteins, and the development of new vaccines and antivirals. The major focus of his research is the importance of influenza viruses in wild aquatic birds as a major reservoir of influenza viruses and their role in the evolution of new pandemic strains for human and lower animals.

David Jackson is a Senior Principal Research Fellow with the National Health & Medical Research Council of Australia, a Professor in The University of Melbourne and a Chief Investigator of an NH&MRC Program Grant. In 2014 he was appointed Distinguished Professor in Hokkaido University, Japan.He has trained more than 50 graduate, postgraduate, doctoral and postdoctoral scholars and published more than 200 original research papers, invited reviews and book chapters in immunology, chemistry, biochemistry and vaccinology. He was one of the founders of the Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology and is senior inventor of a number of patents with licenses issued to the pharmaceutical industry. One of his inventions resulted in a first-in-man clinical trial of a synthetic epitope-based vaccine against hepatitis C virus. He is co-founder of 2 start-up biotechnology companies both of which are based on his own inventions. In the last five years his work has attracted more than twenty million dollars in research grants from nationally and internationally competitive sources, industry and investors.

David Jackson has been an active researcher in immunology and immunochemistry over the last 40 years. His research efforts are now focused on the design, assembly and evaluation of innovative vaccines which have led to pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of vaccine candidates for influenza, hepatitis C virus, Group A streptococcus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human papilloma virus. He has also developed candidate vaccines against methamphetamine and cocaine and against the reproductive hormone luteinizing hormone releasing hormone.

Lorena Brown is a professor at the University of Melbourne and at Hokkaido University. She is a lecturer in Virology to students of Science and Medicine and also heads a laboratory dedicated to understanding and controlling influenza.

Her work is focused on researching and evaluating new vaccines designed to combat both seasonal and highly lethal avian strains of influenza, including vaccines that induce cross-reactive T cell responses. As well as having a combined expertise in immunology and basic virology, her teamed is skilled in molecular virology techniques, which are used to understand the detailed replication of influenza virus and disease pathogenesis.