Influenza has long served as the backbone for the United States’ annual respiratory disease response and pandemic preparedness efforts. Unfortunately, the flu continues to claim hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Last season was the first in nearly a decade to be classified as high severity across all age groups in the US and resulted in a record 289 pediatric deaths. Meanwhile, flu vaccination rates have fallen for four consecutive seasons. Simply put, we are losing ground. Breakthrough innovations - from AI-powered vaccine design to at-home needle-free nasal vaccines to new preventatives and therapeutics - are reshaping how we fight the flu and our next pandemic response. This panel brings together leading researchers, biotech pioneers, and government officials developing next-generation vaccines, accessible home-based tools, and broadly protective treatments and preventatives to dramatically reduce the lives lost to influenza.