IHV In the News
Dr. Robert C. Gallo Receives Severo Ochoa Award
Baltimore Times
April 21, 2006
By Nakia Herring
Dr. Robert C. Gallo, is firmly following in the footsteps of Severo Ocha, the
first Hispanic American to win a Nobel Prize in medicine. Dr. Gallo is founder
and director of the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) and recently received
the Severo Ochoa Award, which is given to a distinguished scientist who is dedicated
to eradicating HIV/AIDS in minority communities. He was honored at the third
annual National Minority Health Month Foundation leadership awards luncheon
in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Gallo has dedicated himself to eliminating HIV/AIDS. It was Dr. Gallo who
pioneered the field of human retrovirology in 1980 by discovering the first
human retrovirus (HTLV-1) and showing it to cause a particular form of human
leukemia. A year later, Gallo and his research team discovered the second known
human retrovirus (HTLV-2), which was followed by the landmark discovery of HIV.
Gallo and his team provided the first results to show that HIV was the cause
of AIDS and developed the HIV blood test that saves many lives today.
“To receive an honor in recognition of Severo Ocha, one of the greatest
scientist of the 20th century was special, but it was also special to receive
such an honor from a group of people whose purpose is to help minority health,”
said Dr. Gallo.
Dr. Gallo is apart of many initiatives taken to eradicate HIV/AIDS; one is
the JACQUES Initiative.
Through the JACQUES Initiative ( in Baltimore), Dr. Gallo and his team at IHV
have pioneered innovative HIV/AIDS treatment and support in the Baltimore minority
community. The initiative was designed to help patients, families and friends
better understand HIV/AIDS and its treatment and to provide one-on-one support,
educational workshops and drug treatment assistance. Through the JACQUES Initiative,
IHV treats more than 4,000 Marylanders living with HIV/AIDS.
Not only does Dr. Gallo and his staff treat people right here in Baltimore,
but overseas as well.
“Last year, which was our first year in Nigeria, we treated 38,000 people.
We have a lot of our IHV staff, semi-permanently in Nigeria. We have three buildings
over there almost at state-of-the-art. To come to one of the clinics and see
the people - man, woman and child - singing, dancing with happiness when you
arrive, was just unbelievable. I see why so many of our clinical staff volunteer
to go over there,” he said.
“Nigeria is the main thing, but we also have responsibilities in Haiti,
Guyana and several other African countries.
Dr. Gallo says he is very concerned with the future of HIV/AIDS. “The
virus is here to stay, unless we get a preventive vaccine that wipes it out
ultimately. One of the great things is the awareness of the epidemic is still
here. We still have a need for basic research that leads to new drugs, because
this is a lifelong therapy, you are not cured.
“If you say what are the chances to cure this in the future, I think they
are marginal. Long-term future I cannot predict,” said Dr. Gallo.
Prevention and education are several of the most important things needed to
combat HIV/AIDS says Dr. Gallo.
“We have the blood test that me and my colleagues developed in 1984. The
blood test made therapy possible, because it identified who was infected and
it preserved the blood supply. We need to get the blood test out to all developing
nations and have it done properly - that is one way of prevention. We need to
educate people on the horrors of intravenous drug addiction and not affecting
your partner,” he said.
“All these things would go away if we had a preventive vaccine. Of course
the institute is working on it, but it is a difficult problem. There is some
progress, but there is nothing exciting to tell at the moment except there is
progress based on a better understanding of how HIV comes into our cells. That
is vital information, in my mind, for major progress on a preventive vaccine,”
said Dr. Gallo.
Copyright (c) 2006, The
Baltimore Times
Related Information:
| 
