PVM Distinguished Professor Suresh Mittal to Speak at Purdue’s Westwood Lecture Series

The Westwood Lecture Series is part of Purdue President Mung Chiang’s efforts aimed at enhancing the intellectual vibrancy of the Purdue West Lafayette campus, and the next featured speaker is Purdue Veterinary Medicine’s Distinguished Professor of Virology, Dr. Suresh Mittal. His presentation entitled, “Universal Influenza Vaccine — An Aspiration or Reality?” is scheduled for January 28. Registration is now open for the lecture, which will take place at Westwood from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Space will be limited to the first 50 faculty who register online.

The Westwood Lecture Series is an opportunity for Purdue faculty and staff members engaged in the research topic to interact with colleagues on scholarly work. Dr. Mittal explains that current seasonal influenza vaccines offer strain-specific protection, and thus, are less effective against mismatched strains. Besides, several zoonotic avian influenza viruses — e.g., H5N1, H7N7, H7N9 or H9N2 — pose a significant pandemic risk since seasonal influenza vaccines fail to protect against the distinct avian influenza viruses. Moreover, ongoing cases of avian A/H5N1 influenza virus (clade 2.3.4.4b) in cattle and its transmission to cattle, poultry and cats further highlight the potential danger of avian influenza viruses. Therefore, developing a universal influenza vaccine that confers better protection than the currently available seasonal or pandemic influenza vaccines will be vital for influenza preparedness. Dr. Mittal adds, “Our work at Purdue University, using a unique adenoviral vector platform with innovative antigen design, demonstrates the feasibility of designing an effective universal influenza vaccine.”

In addition to his role as a member of the Department of Comparative Pathobiology faculty, Dr. Mittal serves as the infectious disease group leader for the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease. With more than 30 years of experience working with adenoviral vectors, Dr. Mittal is regarded as a leader in designing human and nonhuman adenoviral vectors for recombinant vaccines. Over the last 20 years, he has acquired expertise in adenoviral vector-based vaccines for seasonal and potential pandemic influenza viruses, and his ongoing work has contributed to the development of vaccines for influenza, COVID-19 and tuberculosis. Dr. Mittal has extensive expertise in designing novel intervention strategies for emerging and remerging infectious agents, and his research continues to be supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health.