50 years of the WHO Collaborating Center for Influenza at St. Jude

Robert Webster, PhD, St. Jude Department of Infectious Diseases emeritus faculty:

One day, I got the mail and there was a letter inviting St. Jude to become a Collaborating Center, and this was one of the most exciting things that ever happened in my life. Normally, countries would apply to WHO to become a Collaborating Center. We, on the other hand, were invited by WHO to join the group and become a Collaborating Center on the origin and disease caused by influenza. 

Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interactions:

So, at St. Jude, we're very fortunate and really unique in that we have a World Health Organization Collaborating Center focused on influenza, particularly at the animal–human interface. And we are actually some of the people that decide which strains of flu go into your vaccine every year. And so, it's amazing to be able to do that bench-to-bedside research, which will actually have a global impact.

Richard Webby, PhD, St. Jude Department of Host-Microbe Interactions:

There are over 120 national influenza centers spread around the globe that are involved and there are now seven Collaborating Centers within this network. In the US, that includes here at St. Jude and also the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Schultz-Cherry:

Influenza is one of the top causes of morbidity and mortality, particularly in children worldwide. And everything we do at St. Jude really, I think, contributes to improving our therapeutics for influenza, particularly in pediatric populations, but also for people worldwide, children and adults. So, it's very exciting to be here to help with public health worldwide.

Webby:

One of the milestones that we've seen in years of being a Collaborating Center, one, I think the understanding of the threat of influenza viruses in animals — the threat to humans has increased. The major contributions to the system have been in terms of bringing some of the newer technologies for making vaccine seed strains, so-called reverse genetics technologies, bringing those into the WHO system in terms of allowing us to respond faster to some of these emerging disease threats.

Webster:

It has been my honor to participate in seeing this Center grow from one person to what it is today — to show advances can be made to control the spread of influenza viruses.