John McCauley (retired) former Director of the Worldwide Influenza Centre, the Francis Crick Institute, London
From late 2009 to mid-2022 Dr. McCauley was the Director of the Worldwide Influenza
Centre at the Francis Crick Institute in London (formerly the World Influenza Centre at the
MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), from 1947 to 2015), one of seven
WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza which form part of the WHO Global Influenza
Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). Much of the work of the Centre is directed to
monitoring changes in the characteristics of viruses, received from WHO National Influenza
Centres from across the globe, to collaborate on the development of WHO
recommendations for the composition of seasonal influenza vaccines and for candidate
vaccine viruses against novel zoonotic influenza viruses, as part of pandemic preparedness.
John’s broad research interests in influenza were reflected in the many recent publications
he co-authored. These focus, for example, on the impact of changes in receptor binding on
antigenic drift of human influenza viruses, the evolving properties of the neuraminidase,
and the use of computer modelling to explore the antigenic characteristics of the virus.
Centre at the Francis Crick Institute in London (formerly the World Influenza Centre at the
MRC National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), from 1947 to 2015), one of seven
WHO Collaborating Centres for Influenza which form part of the WHO Global Influenza
Surveillance and Response System (GISRS). Much of the work of the Centre is directed to
monitoring changes in the characteristics of viruses, received from WHO National Influenza
Centres from across the globe, to collaborate on the development of WHO
recommendations for the composition of seasonal influenza vaccines and for candidate
vaccine viruses against novel zoonotic influenza viruses, as part of pandemic preparedness.
John’s broad research interests in influenza were reflected in the many recent publications
he co-authored. These focus, for example, on the impact of changes in receptor binding on
antigenic drift of human influenza viruses, the evolving properties of the neuraminidase,
and the use of computer modelling to explore the antigenic characteristics of the virus.
