Professor Mike Worobey selected for prestigious 2025 STATUS List

Dr. Mike Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, has been named to the 2025 STATUS List for his groundbreaking work tracing the origins and evolution of some of the world’s most dangerous viruses.

The STATUS List is compiled annually by award-winning news outlet STAT and is billed as “the ultimate list of leaders in life sciences.” The list features the top 50 individuals currently driving headlines in biotech, medicine, and health care, encompassing business, policy, and scientific leaders – including several Nobel Prize-winners in recent years.

Worobey, an evolutionary biologist and professor, is at the forefront of analyzing viral genomes to uncover how pandemics begin, spread and can be controlled. His research has significantly advanced global understanding of HIV, influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and, most recently, the H5N1 influenza virus in birds and cattle.

“It is such an honor, and nice surprise, to be named to the STATUS 2025,” said Worobey. “I especially appreciate the recognition of the kind of work I do, trying to prevent and control pandemics, and the place I do it, the University of Arizona.”

Uncovering Origins of Global Pandemics

Worobey is known for using molecular and computational biology to investigate when and how pandemics begin. His studies have traced the global spread of HIV and helped reconstruct the emergence of the 1918 influenza pandemic — one of the deadliest in human history. These discoveries have provided a blueprint for creating better vaccines and diagnostic tests.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Worobey played a key role in understanding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China. His work clarified how the virus took hold in North America and Europe, contributing to the global scientific understanding on the virus’s emergence and spread. Worobey also developed and helped implement the University of Arizona’s “saline gargle” COVID test, one of the most successful testing systems deployed by any institution in the US during the pandemic.

Now, as the H5N1 avian influenza virus spreads in wild and domestic birds, and among U.S. dairy cattle, Worobey's research is analyzing genetic sequencing data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to monitor the virus’s trajectory and detect dangerous mutations. He has publicly called for more rapid and transparent sharing of full genetic sequences by federal agencies, warning that delays hinder scientific efforts to assess risk and inform public health responses.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Worobey, his research, and his role at the University of Arizona.