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Current HIV Research: Milestones: Dr. Robert C. Gallo and the Discovery of HIV-1

April 27, 2023 | Dr. Paolo Lusso

Robert Gallo, MD

In this issue of the journal, we inaugurate a new series entitled “Milestones.” This series will encompass interviews with some of the pioneers that have laid the foundations of HIV research. Revisiting these landmarks while taking into account the prospect of their founders should be an inspiration to our readers, particularly the youngest generation. Nobody better than Dr. Robert Gallo could be the protagonist of the inaugural “Milestone,” with his recount of the discovery of HIV-1, the causative agent of AIDS, and the development of the first blood test to diagnose HIV-1 infection.

Robert C. Gallo is the discoverer of the first human retrovirus, HTLV-1, and the co-discoverer of HIV-1. Among his many seminal contributions are also the discovery of IL-2 and the development of the HIV blood test, which has helped save millions of lives worldwide. He has received innumerable prizes and awards, including two Lasker Prizes. He is the Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) in Baltimore and the Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Global Virus Network (GVN). He was the most cited scientist in the world between 1980 to 1990.

Thank you so much for accepting to talk with us about your discovery that started the entire field of HIV research, which is the namesake of our journal. Last year, we commemorated the 40th anniversary of the publication of a short report in the CDC MMWR bulletin, describing a few cases of atypical pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles. What were your thoughts when you first heard about this new disease? Did you immediately think that the causative agent could be a retrovirus?

Honestly, I did not pay much attention to it. It could have been just a cluster of uncommon infections like many others that remain totally inconsequential. And no, I did not immediately think the underlying cause could be a retrovirus until I started to really think about it.

But then, at some point, the new disease did catch your attention. How did it happen?

One day in early 1982, Jim Curran from the CDC came to the NIH to give a lecture on the epidemiology of these unusual infections and presented a clear picture of the risk groups: they were the same as for HTLV-1. This is when I started to really think it could be a retrovirus. It was a sunny day. After his lecture, we walked back together toward Bldg. 37, and he told me: “The epidemiologists have done their job. But where are the virologists?” That was a turning point for me. In the following months, clinicians started to send us patient samples from different cities and we started to culture their T-cells in search of an HTLV-1-related retrovirus. The first experiment in our lab books is dated May 1982.

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jennifer.gonzales@ihv.umaryland.edu

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    Tuesday, June 30, 2020

    Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: An Old Vaccine May Help Against Coronavirus: A tablet for polio boosts innate immunity, which fights other viruses.

    In this op-ed coauthored by Dr. Robert C. Gallo and Daniel J. Arbess, they discuss how “An Old Vaccine May Help Against Coronavirus: A tablet for polio boosts innate immunity, which fights other viruses.”


    Monday, June 29, 2020

    Baltimore Magazine Special Edition: Dr. Gallo Featured

    Dr. Robert Gallo is featured in Baltimore Magazine's special edition, "On the Front Lines: Acts of Courage and Kindness in the Age of Coronavirus."


    Thursday, June 11, 2020

    Global Virus Network Suggests Oral Polio Vaccine May Provide Temporary Protection Against COVID-19

    The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition comprised of the world’s preeminent human and animal virologists from 53 Centers of Excellence, including the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and 10 Affiliates in 32 countries, published a viewpoint in Science today that the stimulation of innate immunity by live attenuated vaccines in general, and oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in particular, could provide temporary protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).


    Friday, May 01, 2020

    NYT Op-Ed Features Gallo-Chumakov Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19 Idea

    What if We Already Have a Coronavirus Vaccine? Researchers are testing whether decades-old vaccines for polio and tuberculosis could protect against infection.


    Wednesday, April 29, 2020

    Dr. Robert Gallo Appears on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal

    Please check out Dr. Robert Gallo’s C-SPAN Washington Journal appearance today to discuss COVID-19 treatments, vaccines, the need for the Global Virus Network, and more.


    Monday, April 27, 2020

    Expert Breaks Down Coronavirus Research: Is it Worse than HIV? Is it Mutating?

    IHV Co-Founder and Director, Robert Gallo, MD is interviewed on LBC, a radio station in the United Kingdom. Darren Adam had Professor Gallo on the line to discuss his research in the past and the work he's carrying out during the coronavirus crisis. "We have learned to live with HIV" Darren began, listing out how it has changed from a death sentence to a disease that humans can live a long life with. He wondered if this could be possibly the path we're taking with Covid-19.


    Wednesday, April 22, 2020

    Dr. Robert Gallo on India Today Discussing the Oral Polio Vaccine for COVID-19

    IndiaToday on Twitter - “Can oral polio vaccine help in fighting #Covid19? @DrRobertCGallo responds. #NewsToday with @sardesairajdeep


    Friday, April 17, 2020

    Dr. Robert Gallo Discusses Repurposing the Oral Polio Vaccine on CNN

    Dr. Robert Gallo discusses repurposing the oral polio vaccine, drug therapies and more on COVID-19 on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, April 17, 2020.


    Monday, April 13, 2020

    Can an Oral Polio Vaccine Stop COVID-19?

    Please see this just released Associated Press article, “Could old vaccines for other germs protect against COVID-19?” with Dr. Robert Gallo (Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine) and Dr. Konstantin Chumakov (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), both of the Global Virus Network (GVN).


    Wednesday, April 08, 2020

    Institute of Human Virology Co-founder on Coronavirus Recovery, Antibody Testing, Drug Testing, Bloomberg TV

    Dr. Robert Gallo, the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Co-founder and director discusses the coronavirus. He speaks with Haidi Stroud-Watts and Shery Ahn on "Bloomberg Daybreak: Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)


    Tuesday, April 07, 2020

    A Deep Look Into The Coronavirus with Dr. Robert Gallo on WYPR (Baltimore’s local NPR station)

    (WNPR) Dr. Robert Gallo has been getting to know viruses-- their targets and their weaknesses--for decades, even before he co-discovered the virus that causes AIDS in the 1980s. At the University of Maryland’s Institute for Human Virology, which he heads, Gallo is looking at the coronavirus; he joins us to share his thoughts. Gallo is also co-founder and international scientific advisor at the Global Virus Network.


    Wednesday, April 01, 2020

    Dr. Robert Gallo Featured on MSNBC’s 11th Hour with Brian Williams

    Robert Gallo, MD, Co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Human Virology, discusses SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, specifically, how he thinks the fight against the Coronavirus is going thus far.


    Friday, October 04, 2019

    Institute of Human Virology Hosts 21st Annual International Meeting of Top Scientists on Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in America and the Intersection of Opioid Use Disorder

    The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine commenced IHV2019 held Thursday, October 3 through Friday, October 4 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. This year “Progress in HIV/AIDS: Challenges in 2020” opened with highlights about the recent plan for "Ending the HIV Epidemic by 2030” with expert opinions by ADM Brett Giroir, MD, Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)


    Monday, August 26, 2019

    Dr. Robert Gallo Featured in Malcolm Gladwell's Podcast, "Revisionist History: The Obscure Virus Club"

    "Revisionist History" by Malcolm Gladwell: “The Obscure Virus Club,” featuring three prominent virologists, including Dr. Robert Gallo (as well as Dr. Ludwig Gross and Dr. Howard Temin).


    Monday, June 24, 2019

    UM School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology Awarded $40 Million Grant to Conduct HIV Population Surveys

    Man Charurat, MD, Professor of Medicine, Director, Center for International Health, Education, and Biosecurity (CIHEB), and Director, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention, Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), has been awarded a five-year grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct HIV population-based HIV impact assessments worldwide to measure the progress towards the control of the HIV epidemic


    Wednesday, May 01, 2019

    Large National Survey Shows Smaller HIV Epidemic in Nigeria Than Once Thought and Highlights Key Gaps

    (CDC) The Government of Nigeria, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC, and the University of Maryland School of Medicine released new data from the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS), one of the largest population-based HIV/AIDS household surveys ever conducted. The NAIIS directly measured HIV prevalence and viral load suppression. According to the NAIIS results, the HIV prevalence in Nigeria is lower than previously thought, allowing the country to focus on providing services to the areas of greatest need to control the HIV epidemic.


    Wednesday, August 02, 2017

    UM School of Medicine Receives $2 Million Grant for HIV Research in Malawi

    The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s (UM SOM) Institute for Global Health (IGH) and the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) have been awarded a $2 million five-year grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the impact exposure to HIV has on the immune systems of infants in utero and how those changes impact the ability of infants to fight off infections after birth.


    Tuesday, October 25, 2016

    "A Call to End HIV/AIDS in America" IHV Director Dr. Robert Gallo's Op-Ed in the Huffington Post

    As the new Administration is presented with great challenges facing the United States, one will be a longtime foe, the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic. Since President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, I have publicly called on our country’s leaders to utilize the largest global health initiative in history - the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) - as a model to address the U.S. epidemic.