Ralph S. Baric

Ralph S. Baric, PhD is the University of North Carolina William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and in the Microbiology and Immunology Department in the School of Medicine.  He earned a BS in Zoology and a PhD in Microbiology from North Carolina State University.  He performed postdoctoral research in virology and immunology at the University of Southern California before joining the faculty at the University of North Carolina.  Dr. Baric’s research focuses on the pathogenesis and emergence mechanisms of RNA viruses, focusing on coronaviruses, flaviviruses and noroviruses. His group has made seminal contributions in virus genetics, identifying host susceptibility genes that regulate virus pathogenesis and emergence, and studying mechanisms of virus cross species transmission, pathogenesis, and virulence, predicting in 2015 the emergence of future SARS-CoV-like epidemic strains.  His laboratory participated in the development of several antiviral drugs (remdesivir, molnupiravir), therapeutic antibodies and vaccines (Moderna, Jennsen) targeting the SARS-CoV2 virus which is responsible for the COVID19 pandemic. He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and American Society for Virology. He is a Harvey Weaver Scholar from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and an Established Investigator from the American Heart Association. He served as chair-elect and subsequently the chair of ASM Division T, RNA viruses. He was a finalist for the World Technology Award, a senior editor for Plos Pathogens, and member of the Journal of Virology editorial board. He was a standing member of the NIH VirB study section from 2005-2009 and is a current member of NIH CMIA study section (2020-). He received the Innovation/Inspiration Award for UNC Faculty Research, the Lifetime achievement award from the Triangle Business Journal, Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecturer, the UNC System’s O’ Max Gardner Award recipient and the North Carolina’s Governor’s Award recipient.  He is a fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the Congressional Biomedical Research Congress in early 2020, Baric updated the House of Representative members and staffs regarding the dangers of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, including research priorities and strategies to mitigate risk.