The Science of Emerging Viruses Chances and Challenges

Marylyn M. Addo (Prof. Dr. med.) is an internist, clinician scientist, and specialist in infectious diseases and vaccine development. She is the Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), and the founding Director of the Institute for Infection Research and Vaccine Development (IIRVD) at the UKE. In October 2024, she assumed the role of spokesperson for the DFG Collaborative Research Center 1648 ”Emerging Viruses: Pathogenesis, Structure, Immunity.” Her research focuses on understanding the determinants of immunity to viruses and vaccines with an emphasis on pandemic preparedness..Ansgar W. Lohse (Prof. Dr. med.) is the director of the I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Together with his research group, he investigates how immune responses are regulated and how dysregulation can cause spontaneous inflammation, such as autoimmune disease, or prevent the resolution of infectious diseases, such as chronic viral hepatitis. His research aims to advance the development of more targeted therapeutic approaches for these conditions. .Thomas C. Mettenleiter (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult.), born in 1957, studied biology and earned his doctorate in Tübingen. He has been working at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI; formerly Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals) since 1982. From 1994 to 2019 he chaired the Institute of Molecular Virology and Cell Biology on Insel Riems, and has been President of the FLI from 1996 to 2023. His main field of research are virus infections of animals and viral zoonoses.