I am broadly interested in the ecology, genetic and antigenic evolution, vaccine strain selection, molecular diagnostics, pathogen discovery, population dynamics, molecular epidemiology, and interspecies transmission of infectious diseases. My research aims to understand viral disease ecosystems in Asia, including at the animal-human interface, to inform and enhance disease control. While I primarily work on influenza and coronaviruses, my lab studies a wide range of respiratory and enteric viruses. I conduct human and animal disease surveillance throughout Asia via an extensive network of collaborators. The gathered information is used in large-scale computational analyses to generate hypotheses on the role of virus mutations on their phenotype, such as fitness or virulence. We then test these hypotheses in the laboratory using tissue culture and animal models. 

My research is highly collaborative and involves working with clinicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, ecologists, ornithologists, mathematicians and computer scientists to integrate diverse experimental approaches. My work's unifying theme is understanding the underlying processes of disease emergence and the interaction between host and pathogen. We conduct research combining ideas from different fields, including evolutionary genetics, virology, ecology, and infectious disease epidemiology. My team performs human and animal disease surveillance, isolates and characterizes the pathogen, and then conducts large-scale analyses to generate hypotheses that we test using tissue culture and animal models. I work primarily on influenza and coronaviruses but also study many other respiratory viruses and emerging infectious diseases. Another vital part of my work is engaging with scientists across Asia to assist in developing local research and technical capacity for disease detection, prevention and control.

Visit the Laboratory of Virus Evolution here: www.gavinsmith.io