Director, Influenza and Emerging Diseases Division
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Dr. Michael Perdue joined the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in September 2007 as Deputy Director for the Influenza and Emerging Diseases Division. He became Director of the Division in March 2009.
He received his Ph.D. in virology from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson and held postdoctoral appointments at Duke University and the University of Minnesota. He served on the faculty of the University of Kentucky Medical School where he performed National Institutes of Health-funded basic research on avian retroviruses, before joining the US Department of Agriculture.
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While with the USDA, he worked on avian influenza viruses in Athens, GA where, over a period of 15 years, he published scores of articles on various aspects of avian influenza virus molecular biology, molecular epidemiology and vaccine development. In 2001 he became Research Leader for USDA's Environmental Microbial Safety Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, where he led a research team and a 25-member staff.
In September of 2004, Dr. Perdue joined the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and was seconded to the World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Among other international liaison duties, he served as Team Leader for Avian Influenza at the Human/animal Interface. While with USDA, Dr. Perdue had been closely involved in the characterization of the first avian and human H5N1 influenza viruses that appeared in Hong Kong in 1997. He has followed the spread and characteristics of the diseases caused by the H5N1 viruses since then. In January 2006, he served as 'Event Manager' for the WHO headquarters response to the human infections with H5N1 in Turkey and was a WHO spokesperson for avian influenza issues.
As Deputy Director for the Influenza and Emerging Diseases Division, he also served as a Project Officer on cell culture based influenza vaccine development contracts and in a wide range of activities supporting the Pandemic Influenza Program. As Division Director, he now oversees the program that includes more than 40 active federal contracts and grants.