The Yount laboratory aims to understand and combat human respiratory and cardiac viral diseases, with a focus on influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 infections. Seasonal influenza remains a top ten cause of human mortality and COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 is the most significant infectious disease of the past century. Further, emergence of new deadly strains is an ever-present threat. Both viruses induce a hyperactive innate immune response known as “cytokine storm” that acts as a double-edged sword in limiting viral replication yet also causing life-threatening inflammatory tissue damage. With robust support from extramural funding sources, the Yount Laboratory's research aims to disentangle the beneficial and detrimental aspects of the antiviral innate immune response. These fundamental studies are necessary for the design of therapeutics that enhance favorable aspects of the immune response, including virus clearance, while restraining those that cause tissue damage.