Dr. Larissa B. Thackray, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Larissa obtained her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and did postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine. She performs research using small animal models to understand how interactions between viruses and their host determine the outcome following virus infection, to develop antiviral therapeutics and vaccines against emerging viruses, and ultimately to develop new strategies to improve human health. She has also used small animal models to study the pathogenesis and immune responses to a variety of viruses: coronaviruses, flaviviruses, alphaviruses, noroviruses and astroviruses.