The St. Jude CEIRS continues to support an international flu surveillance network focused on wild birds and domestic animals that includes sites in the U.S., Canada, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, and Egypt. St. Jude researchers are particularly interested in understanding how some avian flu viruses jump from infecting birds to infecting humans and other mammals while others do not. In addition to surveillance, researchers are studying the human immune response to flu, risk factors associated with flu complications, transmission of flu, and others. The CEIRS contract also supports St. Jude’s ongoing role in developing flu vaccine seed stock that can be used to ramp up production of new flu vaccines.
Brochure
For more information on St. Jude CEIRS, read about the program in the St. Jude CEIRS Brochure.
Homepage
St. Jude Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS)
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Data
The CEIRS Centers generate influenza surveillance and sequence data available in the public domain and accessible for further research. The public databases listed below have further information about St. Jude CEIRS projects, influenza viral sequences from research and surveillance studies, and animal surveillance data from Center sampling efforts.
- Influenza surveillance, sequence, and serology data can be found at the Influenza Research Database (IRD).
- Center research project descriptions and viral sequence data are available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
Principal Investigators

Dr. Richard Webby, PhD
Principal Investigator

Dr. Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
Investigators
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- Elena Govorkova, MD, PhD, Laboratory Director, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Lisa Kercher, PhD, Laboratory Operations Manager, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Maureen McGargill, PhD, Associate Member, Department of Immunology
- Charles Russell, PhD, Associate Member, St. Jude Faculty, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, Member, St, Jude Faculty, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Paul Thomas, PhD, Associate Member, St. Jude Faculty, Department of Immunology
- Richard Webby, PhD, Member, St. Jude Faculty, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Robert Webster, PhD, Member, St. Jude Faculty, Department of Infectious Diseases
- Benjamin Youngblood, PhD, Assistant Member, Department of Immunology
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
- Tomer Hertz, PhD, Senior Lecturer, The Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Genetics
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School
- Gavin Smith, PhD, MASM, Professor, Emerging Infectious Diseases Program
Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse (ENVT)
- Mariette Ducatez, PhD, Junior Scientist INRA, Virology Research Group
Fundacion Salud para el Tropico (Tropical Health Foundation)
- Juan Carlos Dib, MD, PhD, Professor, Tropical Medicine at Magdalena University in Colombia
Human Link
- Ghazi Kayali, PhD, MPH, Chief Executive Officer
Institute of Environmental Science & Research (ESR)
- Sue Huang, PhD, Director, WHO National Influenza Centre
- Claire Newbern, PhD, MPH, Lead Epidemiologist, Health Intelligence Team
Kansas State University
- Juergen Richt, DVM, PhD, Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine
Monash University
- Stephen Turner, PhD, Professor and Head of Department, Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute
National Research Center, Egypt
- Mohamed A.A. Ali, PhD, Professor, Environmental Research Division
The Ohio State University
- Andrew Bowman, MS, DVM, PhD, Assistant Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Jacqueline Nolting, MS, Project Manager, College of Veterinary Medicine
- Richard D. Slemons, MS, DVM, PhD, Professor Emeritus, College of Veterinary Medicine
The Scripps Research Institute
- James C. Paulson, PhD, Professor and Co-Chair, Department of Molecular Medicine, Department of Immunology and Microbiology
- Andrew Thompson, PhD, Staff Scientist, Department of Immunology and Microbiology
The University of Hong Kong
- Michael C.W. Chan, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Ben Cowling, PhD, FFPH, Professor and Division Head, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Yi Guan, MD, PhD, Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Malik Peiris, MBBS, D Phil (Oxon), Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Leo Lit Man Poon, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Hui Ling Yen, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
- Huachen Zhu, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences
United States Geological Survey
- Jeffrey Hall, PhD, Research Virologist, National Wildlife Health Center
University of Chile
- Christopher Hamilton-West, DVM, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Preventive Medicine
University of California, Davis
- Christopher J. Miller, DVM, PhD, Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, School of Veterinary Medicine
University of Georgia
- Justin Bahl, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Bioinformatics & Department of Infectious Diseases
- David E. Stallknecht, PhD, Professor, Department of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Michigan
- Aubree Gordon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
- Emily Martin, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
- Arnold S. Monto, MD, Professor, Department of Epidemiology
University of Minnesota
- Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
University of Missouri
- Wenjun Ma, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
University of Pennsylvania
- Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, Professor, Perelman School of Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis
- Adrianus Boon, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
- Ali Ellebedy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology
Center Data Managers
- Nabanita Mukherjee, CEIRS Research Database Specialist
- Kristen Hildebrand, CCRP, Clinical Coordinator
Center Coordinator
- Pam McKenzie, PhD, Director, St. Jude CEIRS Global Surveillance