Abstract: The present invention generally relates to influenza and, in particular, to systems and methods for studying influenza viruses such as the influenza A virus. One aspect of the invention is generally directed towards systems and methods for determining the timescale dynamics of the tryptophan residue located in position 41 of the M2 proton channel of the influenza A virus, for instance, via nuclear magnetic resonance. This may be useful, for example, in determining whether a candidate drug is able to alter the dynamics of the tryptophan residue, and thus, whether the drug targets the M2 proton channel.