Gary R. Whittaker is a Professor of Virology in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the College of Veterinary
Medicine, Cornell University. He is also the director of graduate studies in the graduate field of public health and planetary health. He is Section Chief of the Infectious Disease Epidemiology MPH Program and a member of the Feline Health Center. He studied Biochemistry and completed a PhD in Microbiology at the University of Leeds (UK) before moving to the US to carry out post-doctoral studies in cell biology at Yale University Medical School. He came to Cornell in 1996, establishing a research program in virology, focusing on influenza and coronaviruses, including SARS, MERS, and feline coronavirus. His research focuses on virus entry and how genomic mutations in circulating viruses lead to the emergence of viruses with altered tropism. Research in his lab also aims to develop novel vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics tests. He was awarded the Pfizer/Zoetis Animal Health Award for Research Excellence 2001.
