UAB Experts on H1N1 Swine Flu

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has several experts who can address the spread of the novel H1N1 influenza virus, also called swine flu.

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS, PUBLIC PERSPECTIVE

Richard Whitley, M.D.
Whitley, UAB’s Director of Pediatric Infectious Disease, has been tapped by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the H1N1 influenza working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). A professor of pediatrics, microbiology and neurosurgery, Whitley serves as vice-chair of the Department of Pediatrics and as co-director of UAB’s Center for Emerging Infections and Emergency Preparedness. Whitley is also president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Expertise: Flu-infection projections, government preparedness, drug stockpiling, common-sense prevention and self-care tips for the public.

H1N1 VACCINE TESTING AND DELIVERY, FLU PREVENTION

David Kimberlin, M.D.
Kimberlin is a professor of pediatric infectious diseases and co-director of UAB’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. He is one of four U.S. physicians serving on the federal Safety Monitoring Committee reviewing clinical trials of H1N1 vaccines. The committee is a part of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Kimberlin also oversees all pediatric studies conducted by the NIAID Collaborative Antiviral Study Group, and he is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. Kimberlin is associate editor of the academy’s Red Book, a revered pediatric treatment manual.

Expertise: Flu prevention, managing flu symptoms in children, adults and at-risk populations, H1N1 vaccine testing.

ANTIVIRAL THERAPY, FLU-CARE INSTRUCTION

John Gnann Jr., M.D.
Gnann is a professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases and medical director of the UAB 1917 Clinic. He is a noted researcher in vaccines to prevent human infection, development of new drugs to treat viral infection and the mechanisms of viral resistance to antiviral drugs. Gnann also oversees all adult studies conducted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Collaborative Antiviral Study Group.

Expertise: Antiviral resistance, the prevention of flu infection.

INTERNATIONAL FLU SURVEILLANCE, TRAVEL MEDICINE

David Freedman, M.D.
Freedman is a professor in the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases and director of the UAB Travelers’ Clinic. A noted expert in the development of disease surveillance networks for travelers and migrants, Freedman is co-director of the GeoSentinel surveillance project, a network of 48 travel- and tropical-medicine units on several continents supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the International Society of Travel Medicine.