Dear GVN Friends and Colleagues,
On behalf of all of us at the GVN international headquarters, I wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday season. Here are a few of the year’s highlights.
This past year marked a new era in GVN’s growth as we moved headquarters to the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, FL, USA. This new partnership will foster collaborations in education, training, research, and advocacy, and in co-hosting events and meetings including our renowned Forefront of Virology Webinar series, Short Course for Emerging Leaders in Virology, Latin American and Caribbean Regional Meeting, and the Annual Scientific Meeting to be held on February 4-6, 2026 in Tampa. We are eager to build on this new chapter of innovation and connection through our vibrant collaboration with USF.
Our Action Committees, revitalized this year from Task Forces and Watch Groups, demonstrate our renewed commitment to achieving action-oriented results. These committees focus on highly pathogenic viruses and emerging pathogens, including respiratory viruses, arboviruses, hemorrhagic fever viruses, mpox, and long COVID, all of which have seen considerable progress. For example, the Mpox Action Committee established a subcommittee focused on advancing point-of-care diagnostics, collaborating with members from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND). The Action Committee oversaw new GVN grants that are assessing these innovative tools to ensure accurate detection across a variety of settings. The Long COVID Action Committee is spearheading a special issue on post-viral syndromes, “Beyond Acute: Navigating Long COVID and Post-Viral Complications,” in the journal Viruses (articles accepted until January 15th). The committee is organizing a global conference on long COVID (details soon). Please contact Ruby Ferrari at [email protected] to join an Action Committee.
The GVN hosted three panel discussions about the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, or H5N1, and we plan to host more in 2025. A position paper will capture the panelists’ insights and outline a scientific call to action in response to recent global and U.S. outbreaks.
We have launched a thought-leadership series with the Journal of Virology described in this editorial, “Charting a united health frontier to end pandemics.” Drs. Maggie Bartlett and Marcela Uhart explored the development of an early-warning network for pandemic surveillance in the first report, “Leveraging one health as a sentinel approach for pandemic resilience.” We will continue publishing a thought piece in this journal every other month to help drive innovative thinking to pandemic resilience. Please volunteer!
The GVN is collaborating with the U.S. CDC Foundation to enhance our network’s surveillance activities in South and Central America, a crucial step to support our members in the region and the global public health community. We will be consulting with our members in the Americas for their counsel.
As training and education is a core pillar of the GVN’s mission, this past year, the GVN Drs. Yang Liu & Pan Zheng Academy funded 10 Rising Star Mentorship Program early-career investigators (currently accepting applications), 3 Postdoctoral Fellowship Training Program junior scientists, and 15 Short Course for Emerging Leaders in Virology graduates. GVN hosted 11 Forefront of Virology Webinars for virus knowledge-sharing, featuring expert virologists from around the world. The success of the GVN Academy relies on your time and support. To help empower the next generation of junior scientists, please let Avita Ukpabia know of your interest at [email protected].
The GVN’s annual meeting was held 16-18 September 2024 and co-hosted by our colleagues at CAPRISA, including recent 2024 Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Awardees, Drs. Salim S. Abdool Karim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim, and Dr. Rubeshan Perumal. The meeting addressed mpox outbreaks, misinformation in health crises, and pandemic preparedness. Experts discussed advancing science, improving health systems, forecasting models, and ensuring vaccine and treatment access. GVN also honored several individuals including Prof. Linfa Wang of Duke-NUS, Singapore with the GVN Robert C. Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership for his contributions to the GVN and his exceptional leadership and innovation in virology research. A press conference concluded the event.
Our Corporate and Institutional Partners continue to thrive, thanks to the invaluable support of our long-term partners. We are keen to welcome new (and renew old) partnerships! Let Linman Li at [email protected] know if you are interested in partnering with GVN.
As we reflect on the past year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your invaluable contributions to advancing research, health, and well-being across the world.
Warmest wishes for a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year,
Sten Vermund, MD, PhD President, Global Virus Network (GVN)
Photo: GVN members at the GVN Annual Meeting in Durban, South Africa.