Impact
Viral infections claim millions of lives each year and impose significant socioeconomic burdens worldwide. The lab is dedicated to developing novel strategies for the prevention and control of human and zoonotic viruses. A key focus is the early detection and surveillance of persistent and emerging viruses in both populations and environment, which serve as the foundation for effective epidemic preparedness and response. At the same time, the development of antiviral drugs and vaccines offer powerful and targeted tools to combat viral infections. Identifications of factors affecting viral transmission, infection, and pathogenesis also help to mitigate viral spread and reduce the morbidity/mortality among affected individuals.
Collaborations, Achievements & Honours
- Development of a subunit vaccine against swine pestivirus and molecular detection of swine pathogenic viruses with INDOTIRTA SUAKA, an Indonesian pig-farming company (2011 – 2014)
- Licensed swine subunit and VLP vaccines to United Health Co., Ltd. (Beijing, China) (2014 – 2018)
- Discovered and commercialised antiviral agents against human enteroviruses which cause HFMD in children (2016 – 2024)
- Published in top virology journals such as Journal of Virology, Antiviral Research, and Emerging Microbes & Infections
Research Areas
Antiviral agents and vaccines, Diagnostic virology, Viral biotechnology, Viral pathogenesis
Question
Can we find rapid, effective and affordable solutions to prevent and control next pandemics caused by known or unknown viruses?
Approach
Viral diagnosis is widely used in modern healthcare systems, animal/crop husbandry and pharmaceutical industry. Dr Meng Tao has been applying conventional and cutting-edge technologies to detect viral antibodies, viral antigens, viral nucleic acids and host’s biomarkers in various samples. Live viruses, including influenza viruses and human enteroviruses, have been successfully isolated; and novel mutations/variants of concern have been identified for further research. The lab seeks to develop a rapid, sensitive and multiplexed detection system for all potential pathogens, which enables us to actively surveil the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in future.
Dr Meng Tao has over 10 years’ experience in discovering antiviral agents, such as therapeutic antibodies and small chemicals, against influenza viruses, human enteroviruses and so on. He has established in vitro and in vivo infection models of human enteroviruses and other viruses to evaluate the efficacy of antiviral agents. The lab also takes advantage of computational approaches to predict and optimize antiviral drug candidates.
Various techniques have been utilized to design different types of antiviral vaccines, including subunit, virus-like-particle, mRNA, viral vector and live-attenuated vaccines. The lab prefers live-attenuated vaccines which are relatively cheap but mimic natural infection to elicit strong and long-lasting immune responses. Current projects are to identify the virulence determinants to develop live-attenuated vaccines against HFMD and dengue. The lab is also interested in boosting the immunogenicity of vaccines by novel adjuvants, enhanced vaccine delivery, antigen presenting cells and so on.
Many RNA viruses, including coronavirus, flavivirus and picornavirus, trigger immune responses in hosts to produce excessive pro-inflammatory molecules causing tissue damage and disease, that is viral immunopathology. “Survival or death” of infected hosts largely depends on the severity of inflammation caused by these viral infections. The lab is also interested in discovering viral determinants triggering inflammation signals and their underlying mechanisms. An understanding of virus-induced harmful and protective inflammation can be applied to reduce the viral pathogenicity and boost the immunogenicity of antiviral vaccines.
Bio
Dr Meng Tao earned his Bachelor of Science and PhD from the National University of Singapore in 2006 and 2019, respectively. After joining TLL in 2007 as Assistant Research Officer, he pursued graduate studies in Dr Chua Kaw Bing’s lab under the sponsorship of TLL, followed by postdoctoral training in the same lab. He has over 10 years’ experience in applied virology and has collaborated with many experts to finish scientific and commercial projects about influenza virus, swine pestivirus, human enterovirus, and human coronavirus. In 2025, he was promoted to lead an independent research group focusing on viral prevention and control.
Head (Applied Virology)
Meng Tao
The lab focuses on applied virology, aiming to develop innovative strategies to prevent and control viral infections.