The division of animal influenza performs extensive studies related to the animal influenza virus characterization and animal influenza control, and is in charge of the confirmative diagnosis of highly pathogenic avian influenza, animal influenza surveillance, development and update of vaccines and diagnostic reagents. Studies are also focused on various aspects of basic research of animal influenza viruses, with emphasis on the molecular basis of virus pathogenesis and transmissibility, virus-host interactions, and structural and functional study of viral proteins and virus-host protein complexes.

Dr. Hualan Chen is the chief scientist of the group. Her work in the influenza field began in 1994 while she was a PhD student.  Her group has been in charge of the animal influenza surveillance and highly pathogenic avian influenza diagnosis for China Since 2002. Hualan Chen has developed a series of vaccines for H5N1 avian influenza and over 100 billion doses of the vaccines have been used in China and other countries, including Vietnams, Mongolia, and Egypt. She also performs extensive basic research to understand the evolution and the genetic basis of the virulence, host range, and transmission of animal influenza viruses.

She has published over 90 papers on animal influenza research in international, peer-reviewed journals, including Science, PNAS, PLoS Pathogens, and Journal of Virology. She was selected by Nature as one of the “10 people that mattered in science in 2013”.