Yoshihiro Kawaoka


Yoshihiro Kawaoka is a virologist specializing in the study of the influenza and Ebola viruses. He holds a professorship in virology in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Following the West African Ebola virus epidemic of 2014, Kawaoka began development of an Ebola vaccine working in close coordination with Dr. Alhaji N'jai a toxicologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and his non-profit organization Project 1808, Inc.

Controversial experiment

Kawaoka reinvented a new virus based on H5N1, which he revealed to the public in 2011. For now, no known vaccine has been found. His research was halted by a moratorium issued from the US government in 2014. However in 2019 he was allowed to resume the research.
Dan Brown mentioned the experiment in his novel Inferno.

Recognition