We are pleased to announce that Colin Parrish, Ph.D.’84, the John M. Olin Professor of Virology, has been appointed as the next interim director of the Baker Institute for Animal Health. Parrish began serving in the role on June 1, 2024, and brings an array of expertise including serving as the Institute’s Director from 2010-2016. He’ll remain in the role while the search for permanent Director is underway. 

Dr. Colin Parrish started as a trainee at the Baker Institute in 1980 as a graduate student working in the lab of Dr. Skip Carmicheal studying the virus causing the canine parvovirus pandemic, and ultimately working on the Baker Institute team that discovered the vaccine. He received his Ph.D. in 1984. He remained at Baker until 1986 when he went to Australia for his Post-Doctoral studies. In 1988 he returned to the Baker Institute as a faculty member, and has been conducting virology research here ever since, publishing more than 200 papers, and serving as an expert voice on virology, and on viruses that jump from one host to another to cause epidemics. The Parrish laboratory has been studying several important viruses in dogs, cats, and wildlife, including canine parvovirus, feline panleukopenia virus, and two different canine influenza viruses. Parrish served as president of the American Society for Virology from 2021-2023 and in May of 2023 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Parrish’s interim role follows the interim appointment of Dr. Gerlinde Van de Walle who served from late 2022 until May 30, 2024.  Van de Walle joined the Baker community in 2013 as an assistant professor. She served as an associate professor for five years and was named the Alfred H. Caspary Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2023. Thank you Dr. Van de Walle for your amazing work and dedication, and we look forward to Dr. Colin Parrish leading the Institute forward in the coming months.