Dr. Jeffrey Almond began his career as an academic virologist studying influenza virus, then moved to poliovirus. He made major contributions to our understanding of the molecular basis of poliovirus attenuation and reversion to virulence. After 20 years in academics he moved to Sanofi Pasteur, where he is currently Vice President, discovery research and external R&D.
I interviewed Jeffrey Almond, Ph.D., in Manchester UK at the 2013 meeting of the Society for General Microbiology. We spoke about the eradication of poliovirus, challenges in making a universal influenza vaccine, a dengue virus vaccine developed by Sanofi Pasteur, and moving from academia to industry.