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Thomas Friedrich

Expert on evolution, immunity, and pathogenesis (disease processes) of pandemic viruses.

Professor, Pathobiological Sciences; Virology Services unit head, Wisconsin National Primate Research Center School of Veterinary Medicine Work: 608-265-3381 tfriedri@wisc.edu Home page Twitter: @tcfriedrich

Topics

  • Evolution and emergence of influenza, Zika, COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses
  • Disease process (pathogenesis) in viral infections, especially influenza and Zika. Currently working on COVID-19 also.
  • Immunity to viral infections
  • Design and testing of antiviral vaccines, particularly for influenza

Achievements

  • Discovered evolutionary "bottlenecks" in influenza virus transmission that could affect how bird flu jumps to humans
  • Pioneered studies using "next-generation" sequencing to understand how seasonal influenza viruses evolve in humans
  • Developed animal models for Zika virus, which helped understand how Zika is transmitted, how it evolves, and how it causes disease
  • With UW SMPH colleague David O'Connor, pioneered ways to share information from experiments on pandemic viruses online in near-real-time during Zika and COVID-19 outbreaks

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