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

Abstract

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, Robert C. Gallo, MD Director and Professor Institute of Human Virology and Co-founder & Scientific Director of the Global Virus Network (GVN) Alexey Mazus, MD Head Moscow Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment Sharon Hrynkow, PhD President Global Virus Network (GVN) 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:[e-mail] 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, [phone] or [e-mail]. 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 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 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