Pandemic Preparedness: Avian Influenza Research

Presenter: Eunice Ok, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars

---

---

---

For my practicum, I worked as an undergraduate research assistant at Broadbent Lab under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Broadbent. The lab is under the Department of Animal Science at the University of Maryland, College Park and here, I had the opportunity to participate in research towards the development of an avian primary airway culture system via air-liquid interface (ALI) techniques. ALI is a technique that has been used to culture human and other mammalian cells, but never for avian cells, meaning we had to review existing literature and protocols and optimize them for avian cells. Through my experience here, I have had the opportunity to learn the research process from literature review to protocol development and execution. Should the development of this technique succeed and be optimized for avian cells, the next step would be to infect them with respiratory viruses, such as avian influenza. This would allow us to study the replication and spread of viruses through airway systems and allow us to better prevent and be prepared for emerging pandemics in the future.