S. Mark Tompkins is the Director of the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia (UGA). He is also the Director and Principal Investigator of the Center for Influenza Disease and Emergence Research, a NIAID Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR) at the UGA. He received his doctorate in Immunology from Emory University. He then studied immune mechanisms of the onset of autoimmune disease as a National Multiple Sclerosis Society Postdoctoral Fellow before joining the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA where he studied immunity elicited by influenza vaccination. He joined the UGA in 2005. Mark was awarded a Senior Fulbright Scholar Award in 2012. In 2022, he was appointed the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Virology and Immunology. Mark’s research and training programs focus on understanding the host response to emerging and re-emerging respiratory pathogen infection, pathogen–pathogen interactions, and vaccine-elicited immunity. His research includes human and zoonotic influenza viruses, as well as other respiratory pathogens such as RSV, pneumococcus, and coronaviruses. These studies support the development of novel vaccine and vaccine delivery platforms and therapeutic interventions. Mark and his team work to achieve these goals through national and international collaboration with academic, government, NGO, and industrial partners.