Jonas Waldenström
Associate Professor of Medical Sciences
Jonas Waldenström studies zoonoses – infectious diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans. The majority of infectious diseases that affect humans are shared with at least one animal species. Therefore, interdisciplinary research in both medicine and biology is required in order to understand the epidemiology of zoonotic infections.
One of the pathogens Waldenström studies is the influenza A virus. This virus is normally found in waterfowl but some genotypes can infect either humans or domestic animals, and potentially lead to new pandemics. Through detailed studies into how the birds and the viruses vary and change over time, he wants to understand spatio-temporal variations in host – virus system in order to predict how viruses spread within and between species.