Brett Hurst

Field: Animal Science
Areas of Focus: Animal Vaccines, Animal Viruses

Expertise

• Avian influenza virus
• Coronaviruses
• Antiviral research
• Viruses
• Enteroviruses
• Vaccines

Bio

Brett Hurst received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Weber State University in 2006. He was then hired as a full-time research technician by the Institute for Antiviral Research at Utah State University. While a full-time employee, he also completed his master’s degree in 2012 under the direction of Dr. Bart Tarbet with a thesis comparing the pathogenicity of four influenza virus strains in cell culture and in mice. He then pursued a doctoral degree in Dr. Tarbet’s lab by helping to develop a mouse model of enterovirus D68 infection for the evaluation of antiviral therapies and vaccines. He completed his Ph.D. in 2018 and was hired as a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for Antiviral Research in November of 2018. His research at Utah State University focuses on the in vivo and in vitro evaluation of antiviral therapies against influenza, enteroviruses, and now coronaviruses. Since the beginning of the pandemic, he has worked with private sponsors and the National Institutes of Health to evaluate hundreds of compounds for the treatment of COVID-19 infections. The work that has been completed in the laboratories of the Institute for Antiviral Research has helped to support several compounds that are in clinical development. Notably, the work completed at Utah State University helped to support Paxlovid™, the drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for treatment of COVID-19 in April of 2022.