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. 2014 Mar 7;65(Suppl 2):3–15. doi: 10.1097/01.qai.0000446748.71533.80

Welcome 15th Annual International Meeting of the Institute of Human Virology, in partnership with the Global Virus Network and the Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention

PMCID: PMC3990365  PMID: 24736551

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the Global Virus Network (GVN), and the Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Treatment and Prevention welcome you to the Institute’s 15th Annual International Meeting. For only the second time in IHV’s history, the meeting is convening outside of the Baltimore/Washington DC area. This year we gather in Moscow, a city obviously of deep historical significance and home to stunning architecture, cultural tradition, and the Russian Federation Capitol. Further, uniquely this year, the meeting will include presentations from members of the Global Virus Network, thereby broadening the scope of the meeting. The IHV Annual Meeting has fostered international scientific cooperation since its inception. This year's event recognizes both our commitment to the global fight against HIV/AIDS as well as a focus on several other human viral diseases, and the critical roles played by the scientists, physicians, and public health officials in the Russian Federation. We are pleased to join together for hosting this meeting and believe it will impact the future of research on viral diseases in our countries and throughout our network of collaborating institutions.

This year's open meeting is from Sunday, September 8 through Wednesday, September 12. An outstanding program of Russian and international experts in medical virology will be presented in the Moscow City Meeting Hall. While our major focus continues to be in HIV/AIDS, through the Global Virus Network, we will expand the scope to cover other important human viral diseases including hepatitis, measles, influenza, enterovirus, polio and hemorrhagic fever. For each, we concentrate on the latest developments in antiviral drug treatment or preventive vaccines; we also address the roles for viruses in human cancer, how they cause diseases and how they are spread. Workshops provide practical lessons for managing co-morbidities of HIV/AIDS including hepatitis, cancer, tuberculosis and diabetes. Truly, this meeting combines the best knowledge on diagnosis, treatment and prevention of human viral diseases and will be an important event.

We look forward to you joining us in beautiful Moscow to explore the most recent and important developments in HIV/AIDS research and other viral diseases and to acknowledge the progress and challenges in global health research.

Sincerely,

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Robert C. Gallo, MD

Director and Professor

Institute of Human Virology and

Co-founder & Scientific Director of the

Global Virus Network (GVN)

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Alexey Mazus, MD

Head

Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment

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Sharon Hrynkow, PhD

President

Global Virus Network (GVN)

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C. David Pauza, PhD

Associate Director and Professor

Institute of Human Virology

Mission Statement

The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) is a world-class center of excellence focusing on chronic viral diseases and virally linked cancers. IHV is dedicated to biomedical research leading to improved treatment and prevention of these diseases.

Our unique structure connects cohesive, multidisciplinary research and clinical programs so that new treatments are streamlined from discovery to patients. IHV is forging local and international programs for research and treatment of human disease.

The IHV is also a Center of Excellence in the Global Virus Network (GVN), and this year’s meeting in Moscow will be immediately followed by a shorter GVN meeting. GVN President, Sharon Hrynkow, is the meeting coordinator with Professor Alexey Mazus.

The mission of the Global Virus Network is to strengthen medical research and response to current viral causes of human disease and to prepare against new viral pandemic threats.

The Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (AIDS Center) of the Moscow Health Department is the main unit of the city service providing HIV prevention and medical treatment services for Moscow citizens living with HIV/AIDS.

Institute of Human Virology (IHV) Board of Advisors

Terry Lierman (Chair)

Partner, Summit Global Ventures

Rockville, MD

Peter Angelos

Law Office of Peter G. Angelos

Baltimore, MD

Robert Charrow

Greenberg-Traurig, LLP

Washington, DC

Janet Langhart Cohen

Langhart Communications

Chevy Chase, MD

Barbara J. Culliton

Science Journalist and Policy Consultant

Washington, DC

The Honorable Elijah Cummings

US House of Representatives

Baltimore, MD

Mr. John Evans

Evans Telecommunications

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Ret)

Washington, DC

Mr. Robert Gray

Chairman, Gray and Company II

Miami Beach, FL

Stewart Greenebaum

Greenebaum & Rose Associates, Inc.

Baltimore, MD

William Hall, MD

University College Dublin

Dublin, Ireland

Ernest F. Hollings

Medical University of South Carolina

Charleston, SC

Harry Huge, Esq.

Harry Huge Law Firm, LLC

Charleston, SC

Mark Kaplan

University of Michigan Medical Center

Ann Arbor, MI

Sheilah A. Kast

WYPR Radio

College Park, MD

The Honorable Nancy Kopp

State Treasurer

Maryland State Government

Annapolis, MD

Reinhard Kurth

Ernst Schering Foundation

Berlin, Germany

Ray Lewis

Ray Lewis Foundation

Baltimore, MD

Mr. Thomas Lynch

Amarin Pharmaceutical, Ltd.

Dublin, Ireland

HRH Princess Chulabhorn Mahidol

Mahidol University

Bangkok, Thailand

Sharon Malone

Fox Hall Ob-Gyn

Washington, DC

Timothy Moynahan

Moynahan & Minella, LLC

Waterbury, CT

Franco Nuschese

Georgetown Entertainment Group

Washington, DC

Joseph Pagano

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

Peter Palese

Mount Sinai School of Medicine

New York, NY

James Pinkerton

RATE Coalition

Arlington, VA

The Honorable Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Baltimore City Mayor

Baltimore, MD

Edward “Chip” Robertson

Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny, P.C.

Jefferson City, MO

Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend

The Rock Creek Group

Baltimore, MD

Jeffrey Trammell

Trammel and Company

Washington, DC

Lenny Wilkens

National Basketball Association Hall of Fame Coach and Player

Medina, WA

Steve Wozencraft

John O’Donnell Associates, LLC

New York, NY

Ex-Officio Members

Robert C. Gallo

Director

Institute of Human Virology

Baltimore, MD

William E. Kirwan

Chancellor

University System of Maryland

Adelphia, MD

E. Albert Reece

Dean

University of Maryland, School of Medicine

Baltimore, MD

IHV Scientific Advisory Board

Joseph Pagano, MD (Chair)

University of North Carolina

Edward A. Berger, PhD

National Institutes of Health

Farley R. Cleghorn MD, MPH

Constella Futures

Myron S. Cohen, MD

University of North Carolina

Max Essex, DVM, PhD

Harvard AIDS Institute

Warner Greene, MD, PhD

Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology

Mark Kaplan, MD, FACP

University of Michigan

Medical Center

Michel Klein, PhD

Canadian Network for Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics

Erling C. J. Norrby, MD, PhD

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

William Paul, MD

National Institutes of Health

Mario Stevenson, PhD

University of Miami

Sten Vermund, MD, PhD

University of Alabama

Global Virus Network—Centers Of Excellence

AFRICA

  • South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Division of National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Janusz Paweska, BVSC, DVSC*, Robert Swanepoel, BVSC, DTVM, PhD

AUSTRALIA

  • The Peter Doherty Institute (Melbourne), James McCluskey, MD, PhD, MPH*, Anne Kelso, PhD

ASIA

  • China Centers for Disease Control, China, Yi Zeng, MD, PhD*

  • National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID-Tokyo), Japan, Hideki Hasegawa, MD, PhD

  • Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India, Prem Nair, MD

EURASIA

  • Moscow Center for AIDS Prevention, Russia, Alexey Mazus, MD

  • Mechinov Institute of Vaccines & Sera, Russia, Vitaly V. Zverev, PhD

  • Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis & Viral Encephalitides, Russia, Alexander Lukashev, PhD*

EUROPE

  • University College Dublin, Ireland, William Hall, PhD*

  • Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, Esteban Domingo, PhD, Luis Menendez-Arias, PhD

  • Ernst Schering Foundation, Germany, Reinhard Kurth, MD*, Robert Koch Institute, Germany, Reinhard Burger, PhD, Technical University of Munich, Germany, Ulrike Protzer, MD, Philipp University Marburg, Germany, Stephan Becker, PhD

  • University of Padua, Italy, Luigi Chieco-Bianchi, MD, PhD, University of Milano, Italy, Guido Poli, MD, PhD, University of Naples-Nat’l Cancer Institute, Italy, Franco Buonaguro, MD, Luigi Buonaguro, MD, Veterinary Public Health Institute (IZSVe), Italy, Ilaria Capua, DVM, PhD

  • University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, Massimo Palmarini, DVM, PhD, FRSE

  • Karolinska Institute, Sweden-Baltic, Anders Vahlne, MD, PhD

  • Gembloux Agro-Biotech, Northern Europe, Arsène Burny, PhD

MIDDLE EAST

  • Tel Aviv University, Israel, Jonathan Gershoni, PhD

SOUTH AMERICA

  • National University of La Plata, Argentina, Victor Romanowski, PhD*

NORTH AMERICA/USA

  • Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland, Robert Gallo, MD*, Maria Salvato, PhD, C. David Pauza, PhD, William Blattner, MD, Robert Redfield, MD

  • Gladstone Institute, University of California San Francisco, Warner Greene, MD, PhD, Eric Verdin, MD

  • Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, Diane Griffin, MD, PhD

  • University of Michigan, Mark Kaplan, MD, FACP

  • University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston National Labs, James LeDuc, PhD

  • The Scripps Research Institute, California, Michael Oldstone, MD, Erica Saphire, PhD

  • Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York, Peter Palese, PhD*, Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, PhD

  • J. Craig Venter Institute, Maryland, David Wentworth, PhD, John Glass, PhD

  • University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Patrick Moore, MD, MHP and Yuan Chang

  • University of Rochester, New York, John Treanor, MD, David Topham, PhD

*Member of the GVN Scientific Leadership Board

Global Virus Network—Board Of Directors

G. Steven Burrill, Chair

Founder and CEO, Burrill & Company

San Francisco, CA 94111

Robert C. Gallo, M.D.

Co-Founder and Chair,

Scientific Leadership Board

Director, Institute of Human Virology

Baltimore, MD

Sharon H. Hrynkow, Ph.D. (Ex officio)

President

Global Virus Network

Baltimore, MD

Gina F. Adams

Senior Vice President,

Government Affairs

FedEx Corporation

Washington, DC

Anthony J. Cernera, Ph.D.

President and CEO

Center for Interreligious Understanding

Fairfield, CT

Andrew Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior VP HIV Therapeutics & Development Operations

Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Foster City, CA

Nicolas De Santis

President & Secretary General

Gold Mercury International

Mayfair, London

Mathew L. Evins

Chairman, EVINS, Ltd.

New York, NY

N. Scott Fine

Principal, Scarsdale Equities, LLC

New York, NY

William Hall, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases

University College Dublin

Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

Salim S. Abdool Karim, M.D., Ph.D.

President, South African Medical Research Council

University of KwaZulu-Natal

Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine

Durban, South Africa

Reinhard Kurth, M.D., Ph.D.

Chairman of the Foundation Council

Ernst Schering Foundation

Berlin, Germany

Terry L. Lierman

Chair, Board of Advisors

Institute of Human Virology

Chevy Chase, MD

Guenter Lorenz

München, Germany

Charles R. Modica

Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chancellor

St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies

c/o University Services LLC

Great River, New York

Timothy Moynahan, Esq.

The Moynahan Law Firm, LLC

Waterbury, CT

Romain Murenzi, Ph.D.

Executive Director

The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)—for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries

Trieste, Italy

Franco Nuschese

President, Georgetown Entertainment Group

Washington, DC

Lisa Paulsen

President and CEO, Entertainment Industry Foundation

Los Angeles, CA

mailto:lpaulsen@eifoundation.org

Sajan Pillai

Chief Executive Officer

UST-Global

Aliso Viejo, CA

Jeffrey Schragg, J.D., C.P.A.

Tax Partner, Core Tax Services

BDO, USA

McLean, VA

Raj Shah

Chairman and CEO, CTIS, Inc.

Rockville, MD

Zaid Al Siksek, MHA

Managing Director, TRANSCO

Abu Dhabi, UAE

Longde Wang, M.D.

President, Chinese Preventative Medicine Association

Beijing, China

GVN Senior Advisors

William Haseltine

President of ACCESS Health International, Inc.

Washington, DC

Vinton Cerf

Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google

Reston, VA 20190

Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment

The Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (AIDS Center) of the Moscow Health Department is the main unit of the city service providing HIV prevention and medical treatment services for Moscow citizens living with HIV/AIDS. The center was established based on a department of the Clinical Hospital No. 2 for Infectious Diseases which, since 1985, had started receiving first individuals in the Soviet Union identified as HIV/AIDS positive.

The specialists who provided medical treatment to the first HIV/AIDS positive individuals formed the backbone of the AIDS Center team. Today it employs more than 200 people working in its 7 departments. The AIDS Center receives patients from healthcare institutions who need their HIV-positive diagnosis to be confirmed and be further registered with the Center or those with controversial HIV antibody test results. The Center provides all types of specialist medical treatment to the HIV/AIDS positive people. Patients and their relatives can get consulting, methodological and psychological assistance as well.

The major success of the Center has been the implementation in Moscow medical institutions of a program to reduce the risk of a vertical transmission from an HIV-positive mother to her child during pregnancy and birth. It comes to be of particular relevance today when increasing numbers of HIV-positive women decide to have children. The implementation of special innovative prevention programs has lead to more than a six-fold reduction in the probability of an HIV-positive child birth which is now less than 3 percent.

The Center contributes to scientific research, as well as approves and implements new methods of HIV diagnosis and treatment. The AIDS Center coordinates HIV prevention efforts of all Moscow medical facilities and monitors the quality of HIV laboratory diagnosis in Moscow healthcare institutions.

Organizing Committee

The Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is grateful for the assistance provided by our International Organizing Committee

C. David Pauza

Institute of Human Virology

Baltimore, MD, USA

Yiming Shao

Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Beijing, China

Guido Poli

San Raffaele Scientific Institute

Milan, Italy

Jose Esparza

The Gates Foundation

Seattle, Washington, USA

Anders Vahlne

Karolinska Institute

Stockholm, Sweden

Leonid Margolis

National Institutes of Health

Bethesda, Maryland, USA

John Moore

Weill Cornell Medical College

New York, NY, USA

Diane Griffin

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Baltimore, MD, USA

Robert Eisinger

Office of AIDS Research, NIH

Bethesda, MD, USA

Communications and Press Policy

To enhance the exchange of information and communication among attendees of the Institute of Human Virology Annual International Meeting, in partnership with the Global Virus Network and Moscow, the following must be adhered to by all participants:

  • All comments at sessions are off-the-record and are not for attribution.

  • No coverage, reporting or publication of scientific data or presentations at the Institute of Human Virology Annual Meeting is permitted without the written consent of the presenter(s) and Nora Grannell (info below). This rule applies to all forms of media, including blogging.

One-on-one interviews with scientists and media may be arranged by contacting Nora Grannell, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Institute of Human Virology, (410) 706-1954 or ngrannell@ihv.umaryland.edu.

Special Acknowledgements

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Gilead

Office of AIDS Research

Division of AIDS (DAIDS)

Henry M. Jackson Foundation

Merck

Abbott Molecular

Partec

China National Biotec Group

Profectus Biosciences

Sanofi Pasteur

IHV 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions

Vadim I. Agol, MD, PhD, DSc

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Vadim I. Agol is a, if not the, number one polio virologist in the world in terms of the basic science of these viruses. He received an MD diploma cum laude from the 1st Moscow Medical School in 1951 and worked for 5 years at the Karaganda Medical Institute. In 1956 he joined the Institute for Poliomyelitis Research in Moscow (now M. P. Chumakov Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitides of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences) as junior researcher and has been associated with this Institute until now (from 1957 as senior researcher, in 1961–2009 as head of Laboratory of Biochemistry, and now as chief researcher at this lab). He received a PhD in 1954 from the first Moscow Medical School and DSc in 1967 from the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. In 1963 he participated in the organization of the Department of Virology of the Moscow State University, serving there as Docent and in 1969–2012 as Professor. He also established and continues as head of the Department of Virus/Cell Interactions at the Institute of Physical-Chemical Biology of the same University.

His main scientific interests are focused on diverse aspects of molecular and cellular biology of RNA-containing viruses (primarily picornaviruses) such as non-genetic and genetic interactions (co-discovery of complementation between non-enveloped RNA viruses; first biochemical proof of the intermolecular recombination between RNA genomes; demonstration of the existence of the non-replicative mechanism of this process), synthesis of viral proteins (first cell-free system for the faithful translation of picornavirus proteins; structural and functional analysis of translational cis-acting element of picornaviral RNAs; discovery and characterization of non-canonical translation initiation factors required for the synthesis of picornaviral proteins; identification of a protease involved in processing of the viral polyprotein; discovery of picornaviral leader proteins; first translational mapping of the flavivirus genome), replication of viral RNA (first evidence for involvement of host proteins in the synthesis of picornavirus RNA; characterization of viral 2C protein involved in the viral replication; functional and structural characterization of replicative cis-elements of the picornavirus genomes), neurovirulence and attenuation of picornaviruses (first mapping of viral phenotypic traits by recombinational analysis; discovery of dependence of attenuation on modulation of viral translation), cellular response to picornaviral infection (discovery of the ability of picornaviruses to trigger and suppress apoptotic response of the cells; discovery of the ability of picornaviruses to permeabilize the nuclear envelope by different mechanisms; demonstration that major picornavirus-induced cellular damages may be caused by interplay between host defense and viral anti-defenses and may be uncoupled from viral reproduction; proposal on the existence of a distinct set of viral proteins, dubbed security proteins, specifically dedicated to the anti-defensive activities), evolution (roles of changes in attenuation determinants, antigenic properties and recombination in the evolution of vaccine polioviruses; molecular epidemiology of poliomyelitis). He actively participated in the world struggle against polio.

Dr. Agol is an (elected) corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Honorary Scientist of Russia, recipient of the Triumph prize in biology and medicine, foreign member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and also received other national and international awards.

Apart from numerous scientific publications, Dr. Agol has published four books of poetry and a book containing an autobiographical novel of his father, well known Soviet geneticist and philosopher Israel Agol, and his own autobiography.

IHV 2013 IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service

José Esparza, MD, PhD

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José Esparza is an internationally recognized expert on HIV/AIDS, vaccine development and global health. His overall mission has been to harness science to address global health problems, focusing on the discovery, development and delivery of vaccines. No one has done more to advance HIV vaccine development.

Since 2004 he has been with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, WA first as Senior Advisor on HIV Vaccines and currently as Senior Advisor on Vaccines. In 2012 he was appointed Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Previously in 1986, he joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, to work on viral diseases with epidemic potential. When WHO launched its Global Program on AIDS (GPA) in 1987, Esparza established and led its Biomedical Research Unit. Later he became the Chief of the WHO/GPA Vaccine Development Unit. In 1996 he transitioned to the newly established United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS –UNAIDS (Geneva, Switzerland) as Coordinator of the WHO-UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Initiative. He became a recognized global leader in the field of HIV vaccines.

From 1974 to 1985 he worked in Caracas, Venezuela, at the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research—IVIC, at that time, one of the most important research institutions in Latin America. He served as Professor of Virology, Head of the Laboratory of Biology of Viruses and Chairman of the Center of Microbiology and Cell Biology. During this time he published extensively on rotaviruses associated with gastroenteritis.

He is the author of over 175 papers on different aspects of virology, HIV/AIDS and vaccine development. Esparza has served in numerous national and international scientific advisory committees and boards, receiving numerous awards in recognition to his many contributions to global health. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine of Venezuela and of the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain.

He received his MD degree in his native country of Venezuela (1968) and a PhD in Virology and Cell Biology from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX (1974).

He currently lives with his wife in Seattle, WA and has a daughter and grandson.

Previous Recipients of IHV Lifetime Achievement Awards

IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions

1999 George Klein, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

2000 Maurice Hilleman, Merck Research Laboratories, Sumneytown, Pennsylvania

2001 Hilary Koprowski, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2002 Alexander Rich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

2003 Jan Svoboda, Institute of Molecular Genetics, Prague, Czech Republic

2004 Paul Zamecnik, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts

2005 Manfred Eigen, Max Planck Institute, Göttingen, Germany

2006 Maxine Singer, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

2008 Isaac P. Witz, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

2010 Dr. Rino Rappuoli, Novartis Vaccines in Sienna, Italy

2011 Max Essex, Harvard AIDS Institute

2012 Thomas A Waldmann, MD, NIH

IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service

2004 Stewart Greenebaum, Greenebaum and Rose Associates, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland

2006 Martin Delaney, Project Inform, San Francisco, California

2008 John D. Evans, Evans Telecommunication Company and The Honorable Robert K. Gray, Gray and Company II, Miami, FL

2010 Harry Huge, Esq.

2011 Bernadine Healy, MD, NIH

2011 Yi Zeng, PhD, China CDC

One-Time IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching

2010 Michele LaPlaca, Bologna, Italy

IHV Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Medical Education, Clinical Care and Clinical Research

2012 John G. Bartlett, MD Johns Hopkins School of Medicine


Articles from Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999) are provided here courtesy of Wolters Kluwer Health

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