Science AMA Series: I’m John Treanor, chief of Infectious Diseases and vaccine researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York. AMA!

Hi Reddit! I’m John Treanor and I’m a professor medicine and chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Rochester Medical Center. I conduct research on seasonal flu and bird flu, focusing on how our immune systems respond (or don’t respond) to vaccines. The goal of this work is to improve the design of flu vaccines so that they provide better protection. A lot of this work is done at our New York Influenza Center of Excellence, which is part of a network of centers established by the National Institutes of Health to protect people against seasonal flu and future flu pandemics.

Aside from the flu, I’ve studied norovirus, malaria, whooping cough, pneumonia and the common cold. My team also just launched a study of a new HIV vaccine that is in the form of a pill, unlike most HIV vaccines tested to date that have been given as shots. (I’m not an expert on HIV, but I am interested in the oral delivery of an HIV vaccine, which could be hugely beneficial in less developed countries).

I’m here to answer questions about vaccines – including why this year’s flu vaccine wasn’t particularly effective and what it will take to make better vaccines in the future – seasonal flu and bird flu. It is the time of year when people start taking cruises, so I can also answer questions about norovirus and any other infectious bacteria or viruses that you might be interested in. I’ll start answering questions at 1 p.m. EST. AMA!

submitted by Prof_John_Treanor to science

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