JUMP TO WEBCAST

It’s been a little over a year since H5N1 avian influenza or “bird flu” was first detected in U.S. dairy cows, and many questions remain about the highly pathogenic virus.

In response, the National Academies' Health and Medicine Division and Division on Earth and Life Studies are holding a special edition “Healthy Exchange” webinar series addressing the topic. The first webinar in the series, “What Everyone Should Know About Bird Flu (H5N1),” will take place on April 29, 2025. Subject matter experts will provide general information about the virus and explain how we got here, who's at risk, and what's at stake.

Can’t make the date and/or time? All registrants will receive a link to the recording via email.

The first webinar will also address the spread the bird flu to other animals and humans, pathways of transmission, its impact on common products such as milk and eggs, and much more. An audience Q&A will follow an informal discussion with the following panelists:

Nahid Bhadelia, MD, MALD, is the Founding Director of the Center on Emerging Infections Diseases; Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases at the Boston University School of Medicine; and Global Health Security at the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. She served as Senior Policy Advisor for Global COVID-19 Response for the White House COVID-19 Response Team in 2022-2023, where she coordinated the interagency programs for global COVID-19 vaccine donations from the U.S. and was the policy lead for Project NextGen, a $5B HHS program aimed at developing next generation vaccines and treatments for pandemic prone coronaviruses. Dr. Bhadelia also served as the interim Testing Coordinator for the White House MPOX Response Team. She is the Director and co-founder of Biothreats Emergence, Analysis and Communications Network (BEACON), an open-source outbreak surveillance program.

Gino Lorenzoni, DVM, MS, PhD, is Associate Professor of Poultry Science and Avian Health at The Pennsylvania State University. With extensive experience in the allied poultry industry, he has served as a technical advisor for broiler and layer farmers, providing assistance to poultry operations across Europe and the Americas. At Penn State, Dr. Lorenzoni leads a comprehensive program that integrates teaching, research, and outreach. He teaches courses on poultry diseases and comparative animal physiology while directing a research program focused on critical poultry health challenges, including necrotic enteritis, coccidiosis, and bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO). Additionally, he leads an outreach initiative dedicated to training poultry producers—both small-scale and commercial—on effective biosecurity measures.

Treana Mayer, DVM, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Microbiology at the Colorado State University where she completed a 2-year Clinical Microbiology Residency and a research fellowship in translational science. While serving as interim Section Head of Molecular Diagnostics at CSU's Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, she helped oversee Avian Influenza emergency outbreak PCR testing from birds across the US. Dr. Mayer is currently a PhD candidate in the department of Microbiology, Immunology & Pathology, in collaboration with the USDA National Wildlife Research Center, researching emerging H5N1 transmission dynamics.

Relevant Resources:

Building Trust in the H5N1 Response: Perspectives from the Field

Potential Research Priorities to Inform Readiness and Response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H5N1): A Workshop

Understanding the Introduction of Pathogens into Humans- Preventing Patient Zero: A Workshop