Global Virus Network welcomes new centers of excellence across the Americas
University of South Florida’s Institute for Translational Virology & Innovation, Brazil’s Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of São Paulo, and Canada’s Pathogen Research Centre at Western University br
Global Virus Network
TAMPA, FL, USA, October 30, 2025 – The Global Virus Network (GVN), a coalition of leading medical virologists representing 80+ Centers of Excellence and Affiliates in 40+ countries, today announced the addition of three new Centers of Excellence: the USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, Florida, USA, the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in Brazil, and the Pathogen Research Centre (PaRC) at Western University in Canada.
With these additions, GVN strengthens its presence across the Americas and advances global capacity to address viral threats ranging from HIV and arboviruses to emerging pathogens and future pandemic agents.
“GVN’s new Centers of Excellence embody the collaborative spirit and scientific leadership required to meet our world’s most pressing virological challenges,” said Robert C. Gallo, MD, co-founder and international scientific director of the GVN and director of the newly established USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation. “At USF Health, our Institute is advancing research to combat viral and immune-related threats worldwide, from virus-associated cancers and HIV to respiratory diseases and pandemic pathogens. Together with colleagues in Brazil and Canada, we are expanding GVN’s global network of innovation, education, and preparedness.”
The USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation
The University of South Florida recently launched the USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation under the leadership of world-renowned scientist Dr. Robert C. Gallo, who is also the James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine at the USF Morsani College of Medicine and director of the microbial oncology program at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) Cancer Institute. Located in the USF Research Park, the Institute advances research on viruses and immune-related diseases with direct relevance to clinical medicine and global public health.
The Institute focuses on how viruses and microbes drive cancer, immune dysfunction, and chronic disease, spanning HIV and HTLV-1, viral oncology, and respiratory viruses, with a future focus on adding expertise in mosquito-borne viruses, and HPV and EBV malignancies. New initiatives in bioinformatics and genomic surveillance aim to enhance pandemic preparedness in collaboration with GVN’s international network.
As a GVN Center of Excellence co-located with the network’s international headquarters, the Institute serves as a multidisciplinary hub for research, training, and collaboration. “Having the Institute co-located with the GVNs international headquarters creates a truly unique environment where discovery, education, and global coordination happen side by side,” said Dr. Gallo. “It allows our scientists and trainees to work in real time with international partners and with our colleagues across USF Health, advancing a common mission to strengthen research, education, and preparedness for viral threats everywhere.”
Through affiliations such as the USF Health College of Public Health, led by Sten Vermund, MD, PhD, who also serves as chief medical officer of the GVN, the USF Microbiomes Institute led by Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, who serves as vice chair of the GVN board of directors, and the TGH Cancer Institute, as well as partnerships across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, the Institute bridges discovery and clinical innovation. Its high-containment infectious disease sorting core (biosafety level 3 or BSL-3), international training programs, and collaborations with industry and public health agencies accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries into real-world solutions while preparing the next generation of virologists to strengthen pandemic preparedness and global health.
The Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of São Paulo
The Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) is one of Brazil’s most respected biomedical institutions, with over 80 years of leadership in microbiology, immunology, and parasitology. UNIFESP played a pivotal role in Brazil’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, and continues to drive innovation in HIV research, arboviruses such as Dengue and Chikungunya, and emerging pathogens like SARS-CoV-2 and monkeypox.
Equipped with advanced BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratories, UNIFESP fosters multidisciplinary research that blends molecular diagnostics, genomic surveillance, and public health interventions. Its virology leadership includes Luiz Mário Ramos Janini, MD, PhD, professor at UNIFESP and a veteran in HIV research with around 100 scientific publications.
UNIFESP expects to reinforce pandemic preparedness against new emergent and reemergent viral infectious diseases through both viral surveillance and evaluation of humoral responses against such pathogens.
“UNIFESP has been at the forefront of Brazil’s response to viral epidemics, beginning with HIV/AIDS,” said Dr. Janini, director of the new GVN Center of Excellence at UNIFESP. “As a GVN Center of Excellence, we are focused on strengthening regional scientific capacity and fostering South-South collaboration to advance global knowledge and preparedness. By linking Brazil’s deep expertise in HIV and arboviruses with the GVN network, we can accelerate innovation and expand opportunities for researchers across Latin America to contribute to solutions that protect global health.”
The Pathogen Research Centre (PaRC) at Western University
Western University in London, Ontario, one of Canada’s leading research-intensive institutions, hosts the Pathogen Research Centre (PaRC) within its Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. PaRC is dedicated to understanding pathogen biology and developing interventions to mitigate viral threats. Building on Western University’s leadership in Canada’s SARS-CoV-2 pandemic response, its globally recognized expertise in infectious diseases, and its vast network of partner hospitals and Containment Level 2 Plus (CL2+) and Level 3 (CL3) facilities, PaRC, the GVN’s only Center of Excellence in Canada, is positioned to significantly strengthen the network’s global coalition to address viral threats.
Led by Eric J. Arts, PhD, executive director of the Imaging Pathogens for Knowledge Translation (ImPaKT), professor of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, and Canada’s research chair in HIV pathogenesis and viral control, Richard Gibson, MSc, director of operations at ImPaKT, and Miguel E. Quiñones-Mateu, PhD, scientific director of PaRC, Western University’s research chair in viral pathogenesis, and professor at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, PaRC’s team of multidisciplinary researchers combines expertise in virology, biotherapeutics, engineering, and biotechnology to study virus evolution and pathogenesis and to develop novel antiviral strategies and vaccines.
PaRC’s Microenvironmental Transmission Research Facility (MiTra) features a first-of-its-kind real-world testing environment designed to study viral transmission in human and animal settings, advance understanding of airborne spread locally and globally, and collaborate with industry partners to test new technologies that prevent pathogen transmission.
Through its GVN designation, PaRC aims to establish productive scientific collaborations that enhance global pandemic preparedness and cultivate a multidisciplinary talent pipeline by equipping emerging researchers with hands-on experience in virology, infectious disease, and biomedical innovation. “Joining the GVN represents an extraordinary opportunity to strengthen our international research partnerships and build the scientific capacity needed for future pandemic readiness,” said Dr. Quiñones-Mateu, director of the GVN Center of Excellence at Western University. “Through PaRC, Western will integrate state-of-the-art testing environments with industry partnerships and mentorship programs to empower young scientists and accelerate innovations in vaccine and therapeutic development that will shape the future of global health.”
About the Global Virus Network
The Global Virus Network (GVN) is a worldwide coalition comprising 80+ Virology Centers of Excellence and Affiliates across 40+ countries, whose mission is to facilitate pandemic preparedness against viral pathogens and diseases that threaten public health globally. GVN advances knowledge of viruses through (i) data-driven research and solutions, (ii) fostering the next generation of virology leaders, and (iii) enhancing global resources for readiness and response to emerging viral threats. GVN provides the essential expertise required to discover and diagnose viruses that threaten public health, understand how such viruses spread illnesses, and facilitate the development of diagnostics, therapies, and treatments to combat them. GVN coordinates and collaborates with local, national, and international scientific institutions and government agencies to provide real-time virus informatics, surveillance, and response resources and strategies. GVN's pandemic preparedness mission is achieved by focusing on Education & Training, Qualitative & Quantitative Research, and Global Health Strategies & Solutions. The GVN is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. For more information, please visit www.gvn.org
University of South Florida launches cutting-edge virology institute led by world-renowned scientist Dr. Robert C. Gallo
Institute will bridge lab discoveries and lifesaving treatments through global collaboration
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Robert Gallo
view moreCredit: USF Health
Key takeaways:
- Led by HIV co-discoverer Dr. Robert Gallo, the new USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation will accelerate breakthroughs in viral disease, cancer biology and pandemic preparedness.
- The institute’s co-location with the Global Virus Network’s international headquarters makes USF a global hub for virology, uniting experts from more than 40 countries.
- With strong partnerships across Florida and the world, the institute will drive research, education and biotechnology development that improve public health and strengthen the state’s innovation economy.
TAMPA, FL (October 30, 2025) — The University of South Florida has launched a new virology institute founded and directed by legendary scientist Dr. Robert C. Gallo, best known as co-discoverer of HIV as the cause of AIDS.
The groundbreaking USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation will advance cutting-edge research to combat viral and immune-related threats worldwide, from virus-associated cancers and HIV to mosquito-borne diseases and pandemic pathogens. Through practical, sustainable solutions, the institute aims to improve human health while strengthening economic resilience in Florida and the United States.
Located at USF Research Park, the institute will also serve as a Center of Excellence for the Global Virus Network, an international coalition of leading virologists across more than 40 countries. USF was recently selected as the international headquarters of the GVN, which is now co-located in the same facility.
“The Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation will deliver high-quality science and innovation with direct relevance to clinical medicine and public health, particularly in viral diseases, virus-associated cancers and in preparing for future global viral threats,” said Gallo, the James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine.
Under the leadership of Gallo — a two-time Albert Lasker Award winner whose pioneering work defined the field of human retroviruses and helped shape modern virus-related cancer research — the institute’s unified scientific enterprise spans some of the world’s most urgent virological and microbial threats, including virology, oncology, genomics and immunology.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Gallo and colleagues made historic contributions to medical science, including developing the world’s first HIV blood test, discovering interleukin-2 — the first human cytokine that made it possible to grow human T cells in the laboratory, and enabling the advent of cellular immunotherapies such as CAR T-cell therapy. He also discovered the first human retroviruses, including human T cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1), laying the foundation for decades of advances in virology, immunology and cancer research.
“The launch of this institute and the localization of the Global Virus Network headquarters are a defining moment for USF Health,” said Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. “It places us at the forefront of global virology and offers our students, residents and fellows unparalleled opportunities to train alongside scientific pioneers.”
Current research at the Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation focuses on how viruses cause tumors, including the role of HIV and HTLV-1 in chronic inflammation, immune dysfunction and cancer development. Investigators are also studying how people living with HIV, even when treated successfully and the virus is suppressed, still develop comorbidities. Additionally, the researchers are investigating the mechanisms by which certain bacteria can promote cancer development and contribute to developmental abnormalities in utero.
New initiatives will expand into other global health problems to address respiratory illnesses and mosquito-borne viruses, especially those relevant to Florida’s climate-sensitive environment. The institute is also boosting pandemic preparedness through genomic surveillance, outbreak modeling and One Health research in close collaboration with the Global Virus Network.
The USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation has established a partnership with Tampa General Hospital’s Cancer Institute, where Gallo leads the Microbial Oncology Program, to more rapidly advance discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic. Additional collaborations with Moffitt Cancer Center, CAN Community Health and international partners across Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia will further solidify the institute’s role as a global nexus for virology innovation.
“It is my hope that these efforts will also foster high-skill job growth in Florida and will expand Florida’s biotechnology corridor,” Gallo said.
The institute will provide immersive opportunities for students, fellows and early-career scientists to work alongside leaders in the field and become the next generation of virologists. Workforce development will be bolstered through its affiliations across USF, including with the College of Public Health, Microbiomes Institute, Morsani College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and the Division of Infectious Diseases and International Medicine. By integrating research, education and biotechnology entrepreneurship, the institute will enable discoveries that improve patient care while driving workforce development and expanding Florida’s biotechnology corridor.
The institute is also partnering with the GVN to develop a global viral surveillance infrastructure that integrates laboratory innovation, pathogen genomics and public health intelligence to strengthen Florida’s and the world’s capacity to respond rapidly to emerging threats and enhance pandemic preparedness.
“The University of South Florida is proud to be the home of this visionary institute,” USF President Rhea Law said. “Under Dr. Gallo’s leadership, the institute will further elevate our university’s global standing while growing our research impact and delivering innovations that improve lives across Florida, the nation and beyond.”
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About the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. In 2025, U.S. News & World Report recognized USF with its highest overall ranking in university history, as a top 50 public university for the seventh consecutive year and as one of the top 15 best values among all public universities in the nation. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3% of universities in the U.S. With an all-time high of $738 million in research funding in 2024 and as a top 20 public university for producing U.S. patents, USF uses innovation to transform lives and shape a better future. The university generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. USF’s Division I athletics teams compete in the American Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.
About USF Health
USF Health's mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF Health’s multispecialty physicians’ group. The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News & World Report’s national university rankings than USF. For more information, visit health.usf.edu.
Method of Research
News article
Subject of Research
People
Led by HIV co-discoverer Dr. Robert Gallo, the new USF Health Institute for Translational Virology and Innovation will accelerate breakthroughs in viral disease, cancer biology and pandemic preparedness.
Credit
USF Health
Discovery of viral entry routes into cells points to future prevention, treatment strategies
Decoy molecules to newly identified receptors prevent deadly viral infections in mice
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Researchers at WashU Medicine have identified key entry routes that two deadly viruses use to infect cells. Shown are mouse neurons and their cell nuclei (purple and blue). On the left, infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus is visible in green. On the right, mouse neurons missing a key entry receptor are protected from infection, showing no green. Strategies that disrupt these entry routes could help guide development of new ways to prevent or treat these viral infections.
view moreCredit: Pengfei Li, Hana Janova
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified central routes that two deadly viruses take to invade human cells and have designed decoy molecules that block the infections.
The discoveries — published this week in two separate studies — set the stage for developing new prevention and treatment strategies for yellow fever virus and tick-borne encephalitis viruses, members of a group of viruses that includes Zika, dengue, West Nile and Japanese encephalitis viruses. With shifting climate conditions, such viruses are expanding their ranges, increasing the threats they pose to public health.
The study on yellow fever virus appears in Nature, and the study focused on tick-borne encephalitis viruses is published in PNAS.
“There are no treatments for these viral infections, so there is an urgent need for new strategies to prevent and treat these infections, which continue to cause severe disease and death in far too many cases,” said Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, senior author of both studies and the WashU Medicine Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine. “Our studies showing how these viruses get into cells creates opportunities to disrupt those routes, stopping viral infections from jumping animal species — both wild and domesticated — and spreading through populations of people.”
Yellow fever virus is spread by mosquitoes and is common in parts of Africa and South America. Many people infected experience flu-like symptoms and recover. According to the World Health Organization, about 15% of infections are severe, causing high fever, liver failure, internal bleeding and toxic shock. About half of cases that come to clinical attention — which number in the tens of thousands each year — end in multi-organ failure and death. Vaccination can protect against yellow fever, but the sole vaccine available uses a live virus, so people with weakened immune systems, including infants and older adults, cannot take it.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus is spread by several tick species, and different versions of the disease occur across parts of Europe, Russia and Northern and Eastern Asia. Severe forms of the infection cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, leading to neurological disease and death. An inactivated vaccine exists for only one subtype of this virus and is most often recommended for travelers at high risk of exposure to ticks in endemic areas.
Decoys serve as viral distraction to block infection
Over a century of studying these viruses, scientists had not understood how they infect cells. Knowing the infection route is a crucial step to impeding viral entry.
“Vaccine development for both of these viruses first started in the 1930s; in the case of yellow fever, we are still using the same live-attenuated vaccine developed in 1937 by Max Theiler, who later won a Nobel Prize for the discovery,” said co-author Daved Fremont, PhD, a professor of pathology and immunology, of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and of molecular microbiology at WashU Medicine. “Our new studies are a step toward the development of a new generation of vaccines and antiviral strategies for active infections. This work exemplifies the remarkable expertise that the WashU Medicine community can bring to bear on a significant biomedical issue.”
The researchers used genetic techniques, including CRISPR gene editing technology, to identify a family of cell-surface proteins called low-density lipoprotein receptors (LDLR) as the main route these viruses use to enter cells. The researchers focused on these particular receptors because of their own and others’ past work identifying them as important entry receptors for other types of viruses, including alphaviruses such as Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus.
In Nature, the researchers are the first to report that yellow fever virus latches onto LDLR receptors LRP1, LRP4 and VLDLR.
In PNAS, they showed that tick-borne encephalitis viruses enter cells via a different family member, LRP8 — a finding similar to that from a recent study by another group that implicates the same receptor.
The researchers found that genetically eliminating these receptor proteins from the surfaces of cells blocked the viruses from infecting those cells. They also found that adding abnormally high numbers of these receptors to cells allowed more virus to enter.
The specific receptors they identified may explain why the viruses have different impacts on different organs in the body. For example, high amounts of LRP1 are found on the surface of liver cells, and yellow fever virus infection can cause severe liver disease. Likewise, LRP8 is found primarily on the surface of cells in the nervous system, helping explain the severe neurological symptoms characteristic of tick-borne encephalitis virus.
In both studies, the team designed “decoy” molecules that include a piece of an antibody attached to the entry receptors, which are not embedded in cells — a strategy that tricks the viruses into latching on to the decoys rather than the cells, thereby protecting cells from infection. The decoy molecules prevented infection in human and mouse cells in the lab. They also protected immunodeficient mice from what is typically a lethal dose of yellow fever virus, compared with mice receiving a placebo decoy. The receptor decoys also prevented liver cell damage in mice engrafted with human liver cells.
According to the researchers, this antiviral strategy is appealing because the decoy is based on a human protein that won’t evolve, rather than a viral protein that will always be a moving target, adapting to evade therapies targeted against it. In theory, if the virus mutates to evade the decoy, it is also adapting away from its ability to bind the human protein, making it less infectious, according to Diamond, also a professor of molecular microbiology and of pathology and immunology.
Chong Z, Hui S, Qiu X, Palakurty S, Sariol A, Kaszuba T, Nguyen MN, Li P, Raju S, Hall PD, Nelson CA, Baltazar-Perez I, Price DA, Rothlauf PW, Crowe JE, Whelan SPJ, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK, Bailey AL, Fremont DH, Diamond MS. Multiple LDLR family members act as entry receptors for Yellow Fever virus. Nature. Oct. 29, 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09689-2.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers U01 AI073755, U19 AI181960 and DP5 OD029608; and contract numbers 75N93019C00062 and 75N93022C00035.
Li P, Hui S, Chong Z, Escaffre O, Nguyen MN, Muraro SP, Janova H, Ma H, Cao S, Kaszuba T, Imbiakha B, Palakurty S, Pearson ML, Price DA, Amarasinghe GK, Leung DW, Rossi SL, Freiberg AN, Fremont DH, Diamond MS. LRP8 is an entry receptor for tick-borne encephalitis viruses. PNAS. Oct. 27, 2025.
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers U01 AI073755 and U19 AI181960.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.
About WashU Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with more than 3,000 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 83% since 2016. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently among the top five in the country, with more than 2,000 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations. WashU Medicine physicians exclusively staff Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals — the academic hospitals of BJC HealthCare — and Siteman Cancer Center, a partnership between BJC HealthCare and WashU Medicine and the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Missouri. WashU Medicine physicians also treat patients at BJC’s community hospitals in our region. With a storied history in MD/PhD training, WashU Medicine recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.
Journal
Nature
Article Title
Multiple LDLR family members act as entry receptors for Yellow Fever virus
Article Publication Date
29-Oct-2025
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