Dr. Nancy Mounogou Kouassi is a postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Gülsah Gabriel at the LIV. During her PhD, she was working on the impact of underlying bronchial asthma on influenza virus disease development. The aim of the Viral Zoonoses – One Health department, headed by Prof. Dr. Gülsah Gabriel, is to understand the interspecies transmission and pathogenesis of zoonotic virus like, influenza A viruses or SARS-CoV-2 viruses. The department is investigating why some people have an increased risk of influenza (e.g. pregnant women, asthmatics). Since the begin on the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Mounogou Kouassi and colleagues have been focusing their work on studying the underlying mechanisms that could affect sex dependent diseases outcomes in COVID-19 using the Syrian golden hamster animal model.