Prof. Dr. Derek Smith from the Center for Pathogen Evolution at Cambridge University, United Kingdom, will hold a guest lecture at the IVI on the topic of “Antigenically advanced vaccines and immunity management: a strain selection methodology for vaccinating against antigenically variable pathogens”.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, 13th of November 2025 at 3pm in the Pharmacology lecture hall, Peter-Mayr-Straße 1, 6020 Innsbruck.

We are delighted to have him as a guest and cordially invite anyone interested to join the lecture and subsequent discussion.

Short Bio

Derek Smith is the Director of the Center for Pathogen Evolution, and Professor of Infectious Disease Informatics at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. His research focuses on pathogens that evolve over time, primarily on influenza before the COVID-19 pandemic, and equally on SARS-CoV-2 since. He is particularly interested in translation of the work and has been integrally involved in the public health response to the SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For the last 20 years he has been a member of the WHO influenza vaccine strain selection committee.