In the medical labs of the University of Rochester's Strong Memorial Hospital, researchers of infectious diseases are looking at data that might tell them what the flu could look like next winter. This comes off a particularly bad season, with more than 1,200 people diagnosed with the flu in Monroe County alone.

"The only year in the last decade that we had a bigger epidemic was of course in 2009, when we had pandemic H1N1 influenza," said Angela Branche, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital. "We always suspect it's going to be some of the major strains that we've seen in the last couple of decades, but you're also trying to predict if there are going to be any small micro-evolutions of these strains, something that can't be predicted."

This year's flu season also marked the 100th anniversary of the Spanish Flu, which killed roughly 50 million people in 1918. But even a century later, scientists are still looking to past pandemics to help put together lifesaving vaccines for future outbreaks. But the difficulty for researchers comes with predicting which strains of the flu virus to use in their seasonal vaccines, as mutations can reduce the effectiveness of immunization.

Often researchers will look to outbreaks in the Southern Hemisphere, hoping to get a hint of what the virus might look like come flu season here. The University of Rochester Medical Center is preparing for the next pandemic, by testing a new, live vaccine against the H7N9 strain. They're looking for young, willing participants for the study.

"We're looking to recruit healthy males and non-pregnant females between the ages of 18 and 49,” Branche added. “They're going to get two live vaccines, and because there is a potential that they will shed the virus, we don't want them shedding that in the community so they'll have to be isolated for a week and a half after they've been vaccinated."

They're offering almost $4,000 to those willing to participate, with the hopes that a study like this could help prevent large scale outbreaks of a new flu strain in the future. If you are interested in participating, you are asked to call 585-273-3990.