Virologists at Scripps Research honored for scientific leadership, two share Gallo Award from the Global Virus Network

LA JOLLA, CA – Dec. 3, 2018 – With greater numbers of people moving about the world with more frequency, viral threats are on the rise. To help protect the global population, scientists need new strategies and greater levels of collaboration. Recently, two of the foremost virologists in the world, Michael B.A. Oldstone, MD, and Erica Ollmann Saphire, PhD, both from Scripps Research, were recognized by the Global Virus Network (GVN) for their leadership in the field of medical virology. In announcing the Robert C. Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership, GVN President Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, said, it is “not only for your superb contributions to the field of medical virology but for your contributions and commitments to advancing the mission of the GVN.”

The two received their shared award on November 30, 2018 in Annecy, France during the organization’s annual meeting.

“It is a privilege to share not only a building and collaborative research program with Michael,” says Saphire, “but an international award as well.” She and Oldstone have been co-directors of the GVN Center of Excellence at Scripps Research for several years. That center is one of 42 Centers the GVN has established in 27 countries around the world. At each center, medical virologists pursue cutting-edge research while monitoring viral outbreaks and collaborating on counter-measures to protect communities.

“It reflects well on Scripps Research,” continues Saphire, “that while one scientist a year is typically named for this award, this year they named two, both from Scripps Research, including the one who built the virology program here with his pioneering studies on LCMV [lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus].” Oldstone has dedicated decades of research to LCMV in order to obtain a molecular understanding of how viruses infect cells, evade and manipulate the immune system, and cause disease. He has been credited with shaping fundamental concepts in virology, immunology and infectious disease. Saphire’s group solved the first structure of the surface glycoprotein of LCMV and worked with Oldstone to interpret how the virus infects cells.

At Scripps Research, Oldstone’s lab has most recently been investigating the immune system response in the cells of Ebola virus survivors and, in a paper published in July 2018, identified an additional target for a more effective vaccine against the virus. “Our study of the immune response in Ebola survivors,” he says, “suggests that a vaccine targeting not only the glycoprotein but Ebola’s nucleoprotein would likely be more effective than the current vaccines that only express the glycoprotein.”

Research in Saphire’s lab has pioneered much of our structural understanding of Ebola virus and paved the path to improved therapeutics. In two recent studies, her team galvanized a global collaboration, uniting over 40 previously competing labs on five continents into a single force to reshape the research pipeline for antibody treatments. Next, her team revealed the structures of rare human antibodies with pan-ebolavirus activity. “The different viruses in the Ebolavirus genus vary by up to 50% in sequence but have equivalent outbreak potential,” Saphire says. “We need a therapeutic approach that can target them all.”

Established in 2011, GVN pursues a mission of strengthening medical research and the response to current viral causes of human disease, as well as preparing for new viral pandemic threats. Its Gallo Award is named after the organization’s co-founder and scientific director, Robert Gallo, MD, widely known for his co-discovery of AIDS and the development of the HIV blood test, and for his discovery of IL-2, a cytokine that is essential for growing lymphocytes and studying their biology.