Emily Bruce has won an award to further her work into the spread of influenza viruses of animal origin.
A Gates Cambridge Scholar has been selected for a prestigious award for her work on how influenza viruses of animal origin – such as avian and swine flu – are transported in animals and how the animals serve as mixing vessels for human strains.
Her aim is to improve our ability to prepare for and defend against future pandemics.
Emily Bruce, who did her MPhil and PhD in Virology as a Gates Cambridge Scholar [2007-2012], has been named as one of eight 2026 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, a highly competitive award for pre-tenure faculty in microbiology. Fewer than three per cent of qualified applicants were selected in 2026.
The Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease provides opportunities for assistant professors to bring multidisciplinary approaches to studying what happens at the points where the systems of humans and potentially infectious agents connect.
The award provides $505,000 to support investigators pursuing innovative ideas and establishing independent research programmes at the forefront of biomedical science.
Emily, who is assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Vermont in the US, works on new pandemic-causing influenza A viruses that emerge from animals and spread to humans. Her study, “From Birds to People: Understanding the Role of Rab11 in Influenza Assembly and Reassortment,” examines a protein, Rab11, that controls influenza A virus genome trafficking in human cells. Her research seeks to understand if Rab11 drives the process of reassortment, when two viruses co-infect a cell and exchange gene segments. She also wants to understand how Rab11 functions during infection in animals from which influenza viruses emerge.
Bruce first discovered Rab11’s role in influenza flu virus infection during her PhD studies as a Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge.
Her laboratory team recently discovered that different flu viruses use distinct strategies to infiltrate cells in the first place. They also found that it is possible to target specific molecules to prevent the viruses from entering new cells, thereby stopping their replication. This discovery, published in the Journal of Virology in June shows how seasonal influenza viruses infect people and suggests a path for developing better medications to prevent infections in the future.
*Photo by MAHDI HAJIZADE on Unsplash.
