Immunisation & Treatment - New approaches to influenza prevention and treatment - lessons learnt from COVID- 19

Nationality: British 

Position: Respiratory physician and mucosal immunologist, Professor of Experimental Medicine, Imperial College, London. 

Research fields: Lung immunology, RSV, received a lifetime achievement in work on RSV research (Chanock prize, US, in 2012). 

ESWI member since 2008 

Peter Openshaw MD PhD CBE 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. He is especially known for his work on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and COVID-19, and for the development of human challenge in volunteers. He has co-authored over 400 publications and has an h-index of 105 (Google Scholar accessed Aug 2024). See also: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7220-2555. 

He was the first clinical President of the British Society for Immunology (2013-18) and served on many grant committees and Advisory Boards, becoming an Honorary Lifetime Member of the British Society for Immunology (2019). He has 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 has built strong connections with journalists in print, radio and TV and used social media to promote accurate reporting of science stories, especially in relation to vaccines and respiratory disease. For example, he appeared over 100 times on national and international TV and radio between March 2021 and March 2022, explaining the complexities behind the COVID-19 pandemic response.

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, supporting the development of the university’s Ethos, Values and Behaviours (Respect, Collaboration, Excellence, Integrity and Innovation).

Prof Anthony Gordon is the Chair in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Imperial College London, an NIHR Senior Investigator, and works as an Intensive Care consultant at St Mary’s Hospital. His research focuses on developing precision medicine in sepsis.

He leads a multidisciplinary group investigating the use of -omic techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve outcomes in sepsis, with a particular focus on clinical trials and translational studies. He is the UK Chief Investigator for the international REMAP-CAP trial for COVID-19 and influenza, that has generated evidence that has improved treatments for severe COVID-19 around the world.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/anthony.gordon

Nationality: German



Position: Professor of Pulmonary Infections Universities Giessen & Marburg Lung Center, and Head of the Infectious Diseases Department at the Giessen University Hospital, Giessen, Germany



Research fields: Influenza Viruses , pneumonia and coronaviruses



ESWI member from 2016 – 2022



Associate member since 2022



Professor Susanne Herold studied medicine at the University of Giessen from 1995 to 2002. She received her doctorate in 2003 with a thesis on monocytes in the lungs and acquired her PhD 2008 at the University of Giessen. Since 2013, she has been a visiting professor at Northwestern University in Chicago for the Department of Pulmonary and Intensive Care Medicine.



In 2018, Susanne Herold took over the professorship for infectious diseases of the lungs at the University of Giessen and at the same time became head of the Infectious Diseases Department at the Giessen University Hospital.



She has been a member of numerous specialist societies, including the Academy of Charitable Sciences in Erfurt and the German Center for Infection Research since 2017. She is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Robert Koch Institute and deputy chairman of the German Society for Infectious Diseases. Since 2016, Prof. Herold has been leading a DFG- funded clinical research project on lung damage caused by viruses.