Professor Munir Iqbal is Head of the Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) group at The Pirbright Institute and visiting professor at the Royal Veterinary College, London. He obtained Veterinary Medicine and MPhil degrees in Pakistan and a PhD in Biotechnology at Imperial College London in 1991. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Liverpool and the University of St Andrews, before joining the Institute in 1996. He has published more than 100 pieces of international peer-reviewed publications. Currently, he is leading lots of research projects aimed to define the impact of AIV genetic changes on the ability of the virus to evade immune responses, cause increased disease severity and allow cross-species transmission. He is also leading the development of new multivalent vaccines and diagnostics for better control of avian respiratory viruses like avian influenza, Newcastle disease, avian adenovirus and avian metapneumoviruses.
