David Evans, PhD
Labs | Virology

David Evans, PhD, FCAHS is a Professor at the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology at the University of Alberta, where he was awarded $24.9 million in 2006 to build and equip Alberta’s only academic BSL3 laboratory to support immunology and infectious disease research in Edmonton. He is a member of the WHO Scientific Subcommittee on Variola Virus Research and the Advisory Committee on the Human Pathogens and Toxins with the Public Health Agency of Canada. He’s also a longstanding member of the WHO smallpox advisory committee; serves on the Canadian advisory committee on human pathogens and toxins; and most recently conducted site visits for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). David contributed to the WHO-led DeMaND study evaluating methylene blue as a safe, low-cost PPE decontamination method.

As a virologist and professor with diverse interests in poxvirus biology, as well as a former research administrator, Dr. Evans is an international leader in the study of poxviruses with special expertise in virus recombination, antiviral drugs, and replication. Dr. Evans has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to research translation—his recombineering technology is licensed as InFusion® kits, and his recent research focused on developing oncolytic viruses for treating bladder cancer as well as methods for assembling synthetic poxviruses.  He has issued and pending international patents relating to these and other technologies.