Michael Gale, PhD

LOU Co-Director
Michael Gale, PhD

Contact Information

Email
mgale@uw.edu
Phone
206-685-8289

Dr. Gale focuses his research on understanding the innate immune response to infection by emerging RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, Zika virus, HIV, and emerging influenza A viruses, leveraging this information to build improved vaccines, vaccine adjuvants, and antiviral therapeutics. Dr. Gale is currently developing and testing novel vaccines for protection against SARS-CoV-2 and is developing a new class of innate immune-targeted antiviral drugs for broad spectrum application to enhance vaccine immunity and to treat virus infection. These new therapeutics will improve global health by providing effective treatment to the people infected with SARS-CoV-2, Zika virus, Ebola virus, dengue virus, West Nile virus, and influenza A virus. The laboratory is a component of the Systems Immunogenetics program, and the Emerging Infectious Disease Research Centers program supported by the NIH, and also conducts programs of study focused on understanding immune control of West Nile virus infection, HIV infection, and the immunomodulatory/antiviral actions of interferons and small molecule inhibitors of virus replication. Dr. Gale is the Director of the Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease (CIIID), is an Adjunct professor of Microbiology and of Global Health and is an Affiliate Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He is a professor of Immunology and is a formally trained immunologist and virologist with expertise in studies of virus/host interactions, innate immunity, and immune signaling of RNA viruses.