David Spiro

David J. Spiro Ph.D. is the Director of the Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies at the Fogarty International Center (FIC), and his work focuses on building international capacity for the surveillance and analysis of infectious disease outbreaks in order to help democratize global genomic communication. His research focuses on the molecular evolution of RNA viruses including influenza, coronaviruses and RSV. Before coming to FIC, David was the Chief of the Viral Respiratory Diseases Section in the Respiratory Diseases Branch at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He oversaw a team that managed the NIAID grant and contracts portfolio for influenza, MERS, SARS, and RSV basic research. During his time at NIAID, preclinical and clinical countermeasure development focused on universal influenza vaccine strategies, the development of animal models and vaccines for emerging coronaviruses and the development of a safe and effective RSV vaccine. Previously, David was the head of the Viral Genomics group at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, MD and his research focused on developing high throughput sequencing platforms to monitor the evolution of influenza, coronaviruses and other RNA viruses. David received his undergraduate degree in biology and history at Columbia University and his graduate degree in Cell and Developmental Biology at Harvard University.