COVID-19 The Virus and Vaccines

The University of Melbourne, Department of Rural Health recently held a webinar by Professor Kanta Subbarao.

COVID-19: The Virus and Vaccines by Prof. Kanta Subbarao from Faculty of MDHS on Vimeo.

Professor Kanta Subbarao

Director – WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and Honorary Professorial Fellow

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity

Professor Kanta Subbarao was appointed Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza and Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in 2016. Prior to her arrival in Melbourne, she was Chief of the Emerging Respiratory Viruses Section of the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID, National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States from 2002-2016 and chief of the Molecular Genetics Section of the Influenza Branch at the US CDC from 1997-2002.

Kanta is a virologist and a physician with specialty training in paediatric infectious diseases. She received her M.B.B.S. from Christian Medical College, Vellore in India and trained in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases and completed an M.P.H. in epidemiology in the US. She also received postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID, NIH.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, she has been invited to serve on international panels on animal models and vaccine safety (CEPI, WHO and American Society for Microbiology).

Professor Subbarao provided an insight into the virus that has changed our lives in 2020 and shared her knowledge on the current status of COVID-19 vaccines.