Meet the Scientist: Jenna Guthmiller, PhD, assistant professor, immunology and microbiology
Did you know that the influenza or flu virus infects birds, pigs and sometimes cows? It's true: Humans are not the only host for the flu virus. In fact, the flu virus infects birds year-round, and as they migrate around the globe, the flu virus changes or mutates and often comes back to where you live in a new form.
Jenna Guthmiller, PhD, and her research team in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, are working on identifying key features of current and past influenza strains so that we can improve flu vaccines to provide better protection against all forms of the influenza virus as each new flu season arrives.
Following is a Q&A with Guthmiller, whose lab is focused on studying certain parts of the flu virus that might offer the immune system an extra advantage when building up its defense.
