Andrew Pekosz received his BS in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Pekosz joined the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in July, 2007. He is an expert on the basic biology of influenza, coronaviruses and other emerging and zoonotic virus infections. Dr. Pekosz is the co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (JH-CEIRS) and Director of the Center for Emerging Viral Infectious Diseases (CEVID). He has authored more than 90 scientific papers, is on the editorial board for several journals and has served on a number of National Institute of Health scientific and policy review boards focused on biosafety and biocontainment. He has been interviewed on the topics of COVID-19, influenza, biosafety, emerging infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness by a number of news agencies including National Public Radio, the Associated Press (AP), the Baltimore Sun, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Cable News Network (CNN), CSPAN, British Broadcasting Company (BBC), Bloomberg Television, France24, Voice of America, the Discovery Channel and numerous local radio and television stations.