Michael S. Diamond is a biomedical researcher, physician-scientist specializing in virology and immunology, with a particular emphasis on emerging RNA viruses such as flaviviruses, alphaviruses, and coronaviruses. He is a professor at Washington University School of Medicine, where he holds the Herbert S. Gasser Professorship of Medicine.
Diamond was born in Queens, New York City. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and both his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University. He completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley.
In 2001, Diamond established his laboratory at Washington University School of Medicine, where he currently holds the position of Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine, Molecular Microbiology, and Pathology & Immunology.[1] Diamond is also the associate director for the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs.[2]
Diamond's research focuses on emerging RNA viruses, including Zika, West Nile, chikungunya, and SARS-CoV-2, with an emphasis on understanding how these viruses cause illness and evade immune responses.[3] Notably, in 2020, Diamond and his team developed mouse models for SARS-CoV-2, which has been instrumental in facilitating research into COVID-19 vaccines, including a nasal vaccine that was tested in mice, hamsters, and non-human primates.[4]