Michael Gale, Jr., PhD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Minnesota (UMN; galelab.org), School of Medicine (SoM), and is the Director of the Institute on Infectious Diseases (https://med.umn.edu/umiid) (effective October 2024). He was previously a Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Washington SoM. His group is a component of the United World Antiviral Research Network (UWARN.UW.edu) funded by the NIH Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Disease program, the Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Development and the HIV Reservoirs programs of the BMGF, and he conducts research on innate immunity and emerging viruses. He is a founding scientist of Kineta, Inc, and HDT Bio, two Seattle biopharmaceutical companies, where he engages in the development of RNA and small molecule RIG-I agonists for clinical applications as innate immune therapeutics. Dr. Gale has led the development of several patented products currently in licensure by the UW and undergoing clinical development with the biopharmaceutical industry.