is a virologist specializing in the study of the influenza and Ebola viruses. He holds a professorship in virology in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
Following the West African Ebola virus epidemic of 2014, Kawaoka attempted to develop an Ebola vaccine working in close coordination with Alhaji N'jai, a toxicologist at the University of WisconsinâÂÂMadison and his non-profit organization Project 1808, Inc.
Kawaoka created a new virus based on H5N1, which he revealed to the public in 2011. For now, no known vaccine has been developed. His research was halted by a moratorium issued from the US government in 2014. However, in 2019 he was allowed to resume the research.
Dan Brown mentioned the experiment in his novel Inferno.