Professor Patrick Reading commenced as the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza (WHO CCRRI) in September 2024. He is also an Honorary Professorial Fellow and heads a research group within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. Prior to his appointment as Director, Patrick was a Senior Scientist and the Outreach Coordinator at the WHO CCRRI where his outreach work focused on improving diagnostic laboratory capacity in the Asia Pacific region. His research work investigates immune responses and antiviral agents against influenza and other respiratory viruses. Professor Reading is a leading expert on detection and characterisation of influenza and other respiratory viruses, as well as pandemic planning and preparedness, in the Asia-Pacific Region, and world-wide.
Patrick completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne in 1997, receiving the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the PhD thesis. He was awarded a Howard Florey Fellowship for his post-doctoral training in the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford, UK where his research focused on poxvirus-mediated immune evasion. Since returning to Australia in 2002, his research has examined different aspects of the early or innate immune response induced following infection with different DNA or RNA viruses. His current research is focussed on investigating how the body first senses and responds to infections with influenza and other respiratory viruses.
