ATCC Influenza Resources: Advancing Science from Basic Research to Diagnostics, Surveillance, and Vaccines
September 02, 2026, at 04:00 PM ETAbstract
Influenza is a critical global health issue, causing widespread respiratory infections among human and animal populations each year. Recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus H5N1 among wild bird and poultry populations and increasing incidences of this subtype in humans has underscored the need for effective diagnostic methods and control measures. In this webinar, we provide an in-depth overview of both human and avian influenza, featuring expert insights into the pathogenesis, diagnostics, and economic impacts of outbreaks. We also highlight the latest advancements in diagnostic tools and will discuss ATCC's authenticated reference materials that support these critical efforts, including newly validated synthetic RNA reference materials representing seasonal human influenza A and B strains and avian subtypes of global concern, supported by performance data across real-time RT-PCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), and an in vitro diagnostic respiratory panel, as well as detection of oseltamivir-resistance mutations.
Key Points
- Current seasonal and avian influenza outbreaks continue to create significant public health and economic impacts, with emerging concerns related to highly pathogenic avian influenza A virus H5N1.
- Validated diagnostic tools and authenticated reference materials play an important role in supporting influenza detection, surveillance, assay development, and quality control efforts.
- Synthetic RNA reference materials can support the detection of seasonal human influenza A and B strains, avian influenza subtypes of global concern, and antiviral resistance mutations across multiple molecular testing platforms.
Presenters
Holly A. Asbury, BS
Senior Biologist, ATCC
Holly joined the Microbiology R&D team in 2020. She focuses on developing and supporting analytical reference material products in the ATCC catalog. Holly has participated in several stability studies to determine product shelf-life and works on developing and troubleshooting real-time PCR and digital PCR assays for new product development, manufacturing, and quality control.
Leka Papazisi, DVM, PhD
Principal Scientist, Product Lifecycle Management, Research and Industrial Solutions, ATCC
Dr. Papazisi joined ATCC in 2019. His main responsibility is product development, from asset inception through lifecycle management. While at ATCC, Dr. Papazisi led the Microbiology R&D team in developing several new products, including a proprietary nucleic acid storage buffer formulation and various diagnostics control materials. In addition to technical leadership, his responsibilities include talent management, new product innovation, and management of internal and external cross-functional activities. Before joining ATCC, Dr. Papazisi worked for OpGen (2018-2019), Canon U.S. Life Sciences (2011-2018), and J. Craig Venter Institute (2003-2011). At OpGen, he directed the implementation of an antimicrobial-resistance surveillance system for the state of New York. While at Canon US Life Sciences, his main responsibility was the development of PCR-based assays and assay controls for detecting human inherited diseases and infectious agents—launching with his team ca. 700 products. At the JCVI, Dr. Papazisi led a variety of comparative genomic projects of several biothreat agents. During his academic career at the U. of Connecticut and Vet Med U. of Vienna, Dr. Papazisi studied genomics, virulence factors, and vaccine design for mycoplasmas as well as molecular profiling of Salmonella.
