Alan Hay, Former Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, London, UK
Dr. Alan Hay studied Biochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, where he first became involved in the study of viruses during his PhD research. Following two years of post-doctoral research at Duke University, North Carolina, he became a member of MRC scientific staff at the National Institute for Medical research (NIMR) in London, till his retirement in 2009. His research interests have been principally concerned with various aspects of the biochemistry of influenza viruses and their replication, in particular: the mechanisms of transcription and replication of the virus genome; the antiviral action of the antiinfluenza drug amantadine and the proton channel function of the target M2 protein; and the molecular bases of resistance to antiviral drugs against the M2 and NA proteins.
As Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at NIMR from 1993, his interests also encompassed the epidemiology and evolution of human and animal influenza viruses, in particular in relation to current changes in human viruses and the compositions of influenza vaccines, and the emergence of novel human viruses with the potential to cause a pandemic.
