ralph steven baric is a distinguished virologist and professor at the university of north carolina at chapel hill. born in 1954, he has become a world-renowned expert in coronaviruses and emerging infectious diseases[4][1]. ## education and career - b.s. in zoology from north carolina state university (1977)[1] - ph.d. in microbiology from north carolina state university (1983)[1] - postdoctoral research at the university of southern california school of medicine[2] - joined the faculty at the university of north carolina at chapel hill in 1986[1] ## current positions - william r. kenan, jr. distinguished professor in the department of epidemiology[3] - professor in the department of microbiology and immunology[3] - member of the lineberger comprehensive cancer center[2] ## research focus baric's research primarily revolves around coronaviruses, using them as models to study: - virus cross-species transmission - replication and pathogenesis - genetics of rna virus transcription - viral persistence - development of novel vaccines and therapeutics[2][6] ## notable achievements - pioneer in developing reverse genetic approaches for manipulating coronavirus genomes[2] - published over 375 papers in prestigious journals[2] - included in clarivate analytics' highly cited researchers list in 2017[5] - developed many countermeasures used to treat or control emerging coronavirus infections[1] ## controversial research baric has been involved in gain-of-function research, which has drawn some criticism: - in 2015, he co-authored a study with shi zhengli of the wuhan institute of virology, creating a chimeric virus that combined elements of sars-cov and a bat coronavirus[4] - this research sparked debates about the potential risks and benefits of such studies[4] ## recent work during the covid-19 pandemic, baric's expertise has been in high demand:
United States