Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m., Wednesday, October 16th

Location: Armenise Amphitheater at Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston (link to directions)

Speakers: Anna Ponomarenko

Graphics: Aparna Nathan

Every year the world prepares for a new flu season. Scientists keep modifying and updating vaccines, as well as researching and testing novel anti-flu drugs. And the next season the race with the ever changing virus starts over. But why does flu remain a serious health threat despite all of the extensive prior efforts to defeat the virus? In this lecture, we will approach the flu virus from the molecular level. We will learn about what the flu virus is composed of, how it infects people and makes them sick, and why universal prevention and treatment strategies haven’t been reached yet. We will refer to the devastating 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, discuss the reasons that led to it and lessons that we learned. At the end, we will overview the ongoing research attempts focused on striking at new and unexpected spots of the flu virus.