Andrew Flies completed a BSc in Computer Science at Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2002, with minors in Chemistry and Math. He then transitioned to immunology and worked at The Mayo Clinic (2003-2004) and Johns Hopkins University (2004-2006) in the lab of Professor Lieping Chen. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University in Dec 2012 studying the immune system of spotted hyenas. His focus since 2014 has been on the development of vaccines and reagent development for Tasmanian devils. He currently a senior research fellow at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research and leads the Wild Immunology Group.