Board of Directors
Robert Gallo, MD
GVN Co-Founder;
International Scientific Director & Chairman of the GVN Scientific Leadership Committee;
GVN Board Executive Committee;
Director, University of South Florida (USF) Institute of Translational Virology and Innovation;
James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine;
Director, Microbial Oncology Program, Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute
The concept of a Global Virus Network began back in the 1980s when a small group of virologists realized that virtually no working virologists had a global directive for researching the cause of AIDS during the earliest years of the epidemic. Conversely, important groups such as the World Health Organization, which did have a global mandate for combating the new disease, had virtually no resident expertise in the kind of virus that was subsequently shown to be the cause of AIDS, namely, a retrovirus. Examining the history of other great epidemics of the 20th century, such as Influenza and Polio, reveals similar disconnects between available expertise and the urgent public need to identify causation and modes of prevention.
GVN Centers, with strong working relationships among them, are poised to engage in any outbreak situation by providing the world’s only network of top basic virologists from around the globe, covering all classes of human and many animal viral threats. GVN is also committed to training the next generation of virologists in order to meet the critical need posed by the graying of members of our own discipline, and to inform and educate policymakers and members of the public about the role of virologists in mitigating viral illness and preventing infections from taking hold in populations. This is especially important as my colleagues and I have noticed a significant decline in students entering the field of virology.
Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD
Vice Chair, GVN Board of Directors;
President Emeritus, GVN;
Asst Vice President, College of Medicine Internal Medicine, University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine;
Sr. Assoc. Dean for Research for Global Affairs, USF Morsani College of Medicine;
Assoc.VP, International Partnerships & Innovation, USF Morsani College of Medicine;
Director, University of South Florida (USF) Microbiomes Institute
Of all the challenges that threaten the world’s population, biosecurity – including highly infectious viruses being used as biological agents to harm mankind – poses one of the greatest global risks. Viruses cause millions of deaths each year. Old, young, rich, and poor – all are susceptible to these silent killers.
The Global Virus Network (GVN) is an essential and critical defense against viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. It is a coalition comprised of eminent virologists spanning more than 30 countries worldwide, and working to advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose such viruses, how they spread and make us sick, as well as to develop drugs and vaccines to prevent illness and death while providing the patients with the best treatments.
No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas except the GVN. GVN coalesces the best medical virologists to leverage individual strengths and to focus global teams of specialists on key scientific problems. The power of GVN lies in its global reach, the depth of its science, and its commitment to solving viral challenges facing the human population.
GVN has an important role to play in our preparedness and response to emerging viral threats, especially in the aspects related to research and development, working in close coordination with all national and international institutions at stake.
It has been a great honor for me to be President of the Global Virus Network and now appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board. I look forward to continuing to help the GVN grow and develop, both scientifically, operationally, and financially, as well as to working with Dr. Robert Gallo (GVN Co-Founder and International Scientific Advisor), GVN's new president, Dr. Sten Vermund, and all GVN members, without whom the GVN would not have been possible.
I hope you will join me.
GVN Centers, with strong working relationships among them, are poised to engage in any outbreak situation by providing the world’s only network of top basic virologists from around the globe, covering all classes of human and many animal viral threats. GVN is also committed to training the next generation of virologists in order to meet the critical need posed by the graying of members of our own discipline, and to inform and educate policymakers and members of the public about the role of virologists in mitigating viral illness and preventing infections from taking hold in populations. This is especially important as my colleagues and I have noticed a significant decline in students entering the field of virology.
Mathew L. Evins
GVN Chief Executive Officer
Treasurer & Emeritus Executive Chair, GVN Board
GVN Board Executive Committee
Chairman & CEO, Evins Communications, Ltd.
Having been privileged to serve as Secretary and Treasurer since the organization’s founding, I am incredibly honored to have been elected to serve as Executive Chairman of the Global Virus Network. I could not be more appreciative nor more grateful for the opportunity of working closely with Dr. Gallo, Dr. Bréchot, Dr. Giroir, and Dr. Vermund, the GVN team, and with my distinguished colleagues on the Board of Directors to advance and further the mission and consequence of the GVN.
The COVID-19 pandemic has conclusively demonstrated the absolute and compelling need for a global and apolitical organization committed to the preparedness, defense, and first research response to emerging, existing, and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. The GVN was created to address that threat by coalescing eminent virologists, epidemiologists, infectious disease experts and public health specialists throughout the world, working collaboratively and accretively to advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, train the next generation of virologists, facilitate the development of drugs, vaccines and treatments to combat them as well as addressing the pervasive and often politicized public disinformation and misinformation. The GVN can and must be the definitive go-to authority and resource to anticipate, respond, and mitigate global viral threats, as well as a beacon for advocacy, education, enlightenment, and insight based solely upon science.
The GVN is at a critical inflection point. Thanks to the outstanding acumen and expertise as well as the relationships and resources of the members of the GVN’s board of directors, we are now in a position to make the critical and consequential decisions necessary to advance and further the sustainability of the GVN, both financially and operationally, to ensure the future viability of the organization and make sure that the world will never again be unprepared, untrained, ill-equipped and uninformed to deal with pandemic viruses.
The concept of a Global Virus Network began back in the 1980s when a small group of virologists realized that virtually no working virologists had a global directive for researching the cause of AIDS during the earliest years of the epidemic. Conversely, important groups such as the World Health Organization, which did have a global mandate for combating the new disease, had virtually no resident expertise in the kind of virus that was subsequently shown to be the cause of AIDS, namely, a retrovirus. Examining the history of other great epidemics of the 20th century, such as Influenza and Polio, reveals similar disconnects between available expertise and the urgent public need to identify causation and modes of prevention.
GVN Centers, with strong working relationships among them, are poised to engage in any outbreak situation by providing the world’s only network of top basic virologists from around the globe, covering all classes of human and many animal viral threats. GVN is also committed to training the next generation of virologists in order to meet the critical need posed by the graying of members of our own discipline, and to inform and educate policymakers and members of the public about the role of virologists in mitigating viral illness and preventing infections from taking hold in populations. This is especially important as my colleagues and I have noticed a significant decline in students entering the field of virology.
Of all the challenges that threaten the world’s population, biosecurity – including highly infectious viruses being used as biological agents to harm mankind – poses one of the greatest global risks. Viruses cause millions of deaths each year. Old, young, rich, and poor – all are susceptible to these silent killers.
The Global Virus Network (GVN) is an essential and critical defense against viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. It is a coalition comprised of eminent virologists spanning more than 30 countries worldwide, and working to advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose such viruses, how they spread and make us sick, as well as to develop drugs and vaccines to prevent illness and death while providing the patients with the best treatments.
No single institution in the world has expertise in all viral areas except the GVN. GVN coalesces the best medical virologists to leverage individual strengths and to focus global teams of specialists on key scientific problems. The power of GVN lies in its global reach, the depth of its science, and its commitment to solving viral challenges facing the human population.
GVN has an important role to play in our preparedness and response to emerging viral threats, especially in the aspects related to research and development, working in close coordination with all national and international institutions at stake.
It has been a great honor for me to be President of the Global Virus Network and now appointed as Vice Chairman of the Board. I look forward to continuing to help the GVN grow and develop, both scientifically, operationally, and financially, as well as to working with Dr. Robert Gallo (GVN Co-Founder and International Scientific Advisor), GVN's new president, Dr. Sten Vermund, and all GVN members, without whom the GVN would not have been possible.
I hope you will join me.
GVN Centers, with strong working relationships among them, are poised to engage in any outbreak situation by providing the world’s only network of top basic virologists from around the globe, covering all classes of human and many animal viral threats. GVN is also committed to training the next generation of virologists in order to meet the critical need posed by the graying of members of our own discipline, and to inform and educate policymakers and members of the public about the role of virologists in mitigating viral illness and preventing infections from taking hold in populations. This is especially important as my colleagues and I have noticed a significant decline in students entering the field of virology.
Having been privileged to serve as Secretary and Treasurer since the organization’s founding, I am incredibly honored to have been elected to serve as Executive Chairman of the Global Virus Network. I could not be more appreciative nor more grateful for the opportunity of working closely with Dr. Gallo, Dr. Bréchot, Dr. Giroir, and Dr. Vermund, the GVN team, and with my distinguished colleagues on the Board of Directors to advance and further the mission and consequence of the GVN.
The COVID-19 pandemic has conclusively demonstrated the absolute and compelling need for a global and apolitical organization committed to the preparedness, defense, and first research response to emerging, existing, and unidentified viruses that pose a clear and present threat to public health. The GVN was created to address that threat by coalescing eminent virologists, epidemiologists, infectious disease experts and public health specialists throughout the world, working collaboratively and accretively to advance knowledge about how to identify and diagnose pandemic viruses, mitigate and control how such viruses spread and make us sick, train the next generation of virologists, facilitate the development of drugs, vaccines and treatments to combat them as well as addressing the pervasive and often politicized public disinformation and misinformation. The GVN can and must be the definitive go-to authority and resource to anticipate, respond, and mitigate global viral threats, as well as a beacon for advocacy, education, enlightenment, and insight based solely upon science.
The GVN is at a critical inflection point. Thanks to the outstanding acumen and expertise as well as the relationships and resources of the members of the GVN’s board of directors, we are now in a position to make the critical and consequential decisions necessary to advance and further the sustainability of the GVN, both financially and operationally, to ensure the future viability of the organization and make sure that the world will never again be unprepared, untrained, ill-equipped and uninformed to deal with pandemic viruses.
Quarraisha Abdool Karim, PhD
Co-Founder and John C. Martin Chair in Global Health at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University and Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal
President of The World Academy of Sciences and as Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Special Ambassador for Adolescents and HIV
Lawrence Blatt, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Board Member, Aligos Therapeutics
Tomas Cihlar, PhD
Senior Vice President of Research, Virology, Gilead Sciences
Rosarii Griffin, BA, HDE, MEd., (UCC), MSc. DPhil. (Oxon), FRSA, DDVS
Secretary and Director, International Consortium of Research Staff Associations (ICORSA) / Researcher, University College Cork, Ireland
William Hall MD, PhD
Professor of Microbiology and Public Health (Emeritus), University College Dublin (UCD)
Hideki Hasegawa, MD, PhD
Research Director, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo
Andrew Jack
Journalist and Global Education Editor, Financial Times
Mark Kessel
Former Managing Partner, Shearman & Sterling and Founder, Symphony Capital LLC
Heidi Larson, PhD
Clinical Professor of Health Metrics Sciences and Director of European Initiatives, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)/ Professor and Leader, Vaccine Confidence Project, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Sharon Lewin, MD, PhD
Director, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (The University of Melbourne) / Melbourne Laureate Professor of Medicine
Yang Liu, PhD
Cofounder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer, OncoImmun
Charles J. Lockwood, MD, MHCM
Executive Vice President, USF Health, University of South Florida/Dean, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine/Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Tampa General Hospital (TGH)/Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Public Health, University of South Florida
Timothy Moynahan
Founder & Owner: Moynahan Partners & Moynahan Law Firm
Johan Neyts, PhD
Full Professor of Virology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
Yiming Shao, MD, PhD
Chief Expert on AIDS, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC)/ Director of the Division of Research on Virology and Immunology, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, China CDC/ Vice Chair, Chinese Microbiology Society
Eduardo Sotomayor, MD
Vice President and Executive Director, Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute
Anders Vahlne, MD, PhD
Professor Emeritus in Clinical Virology, Karolinska Institute
GVN Board Executive Committee
Pan Zheng, MD, PhD
Cofounder, Chief Medical Officer, and Board Member, OncoImmun
Robert Gallo, MD
Co-Chair
GVN Co-Founder, International Scientific Director & Chairman of the GVN Scientific
Leadership Committee, GVN Board Executive Committee; Director, University of South
Florida (USF) Institute of Translational Virology and Innovation; James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine, USF Health Morsani College of Medicine; Director, Microbial Oncology Program,
Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute
Expertise: HIV, HTLV-1, HTLV-2, HHV-6.
Anders Vahlne, MD, PhD
Co-Chair
Professor Emeritus in Clinical Virology, Karolinska Institute
GVN Board Executive Committee
Expertise: HIV, Retroviruses, HSV, SARS‑CoV‑2/COVID‑19
Alash’le Abimiku MSc, PhD
SLC & SRC
Executive Director, International Research Center of Excellence at the Institute of
Human Virology-Nigeria (IRCE-IHVN); Professor of Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine, Institute of Human Virology, Baltimore
Expertise: HIV, TB, SARS-CoV-2, HPV
Jean Paul Carrera, MSc, MA, PhD
SLC & SRC
Senior Investigator in Virology and Epidemiology, Centro Regional de Innovación en Vacunas y Biofármacos AIP (CRIVB AIP)
Expertise: Alphaviruses, dengue virus, SARS-CoV-2, Punta Toro virus, and Mayaro virus.
William De Souza, PhD
SLC
Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Expertise: Chikungunya, Zika, St. Louis Encephalitis (SLEV), Western Equine Encephalitis (WEEV), Oropouche, Hantavirus, SARS-CoV-2.
Robert Garry, PhD
SLC
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences, Tulane University
Expertise: Lassa, Ebola, Marburg, HIV and other retroviruses, SARS-CoV-2, Influenza
Marion Koopmans, DVM, PhD
SLC
Professor of Public Health Virology and the former head of the Department of
Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Center. Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases at Erasmus MC.
Expertise: SARS-CoV-2, Noroviruses, Ebola, Zika, Avian Influenza, West Nile Virus and
Usutu Virus.
David Martinez, PhD
SLC
Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine
Expertise: Coronaviruses, Flaviviruses, and HIV
Kristi Miley, MSPH, PhD
SLC & SRC
Research Associate, USF, College of Public Health
Experience: EEEV, West Nile, Tropical Diseases, SARS-CoV-2
Rubeshan Perumal, MBChB, MPH, MMed, MPhil, FCP(SA), Cert Pulmonology(SA)
SLC & SRC
Head of TB/HIV Treatment Research at Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA)
Expertise: HIV, SARS-CoV-2
Damian Purcell, PhD
SLC
Head of the Molecular Virology Laboratory in the Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, University of Melbourne, Head of Industry Partnerships and Laboratory Head for the Purcell Lab, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity
Experience: HIV, Hepatitis
Marco Salemi, MS, PhD
SLC & SRC
Emerging Pathogens Institute Interim Director, University of Florida, Holloway Professor in Experimental Pathology, University of Florida
Experience: HIV, SARS-CoV-2, HCV, HTLV, and influenza.
Mario Stevenson, PhD
SLC
Professor in the Department of Medicine
Director of the Institute of AIDS and Emerging Infectious Diseases (IAEID)
Co-Director of the Miami Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) at the University of Miami
Expertise: HIV/AIDS, SARS-CoV-2, Zika, Monkeypox
Michael Teng, PhD
SLC & SRC
Associate Professor at the USF Morsani College of Medicine
Expertise: SARS-CoV-2, Zika, HPV
Linfa Wang, PhD
SLC
Executive Director, Program for Research in Epidemic Preparedness and Response
(PREPARE), Professor, Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS
Experience: Coronaviruses, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Ebola virus, Dengue virus, Zika virus, and Chikungunya virus.
Scott Weaver, MS, PhD
SLC
John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Human Infections and Immunity
Professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Pathology
Director, Institute for Human Infections & Immunity
Scientific Director, Galveston National Laboratory
University of Texas Medical Branch
Expertise: Chikungunya, Zika, Venezuela E
Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD
Advisor SLC & SRC
Vice Chairman, GVN Board of Directors; President Emeritus, GVN; Director, University
of South Florida Microbiomes Institute, Asst Vice President, College of Medicine Internal
Medicine; Sr. Assoc. Dean for Research for Global Affairs, Morsani College of Medicine;
Assoc. VP, International Partnerships & Innovation, Morsani College of Medicine, USF
Expertise: HBV, HCV, SARS-CoV-2, and a broad range of emerging infectious diseases.
Sten Vermund, MD, PhD
Advisor SLC & SRC
Chief Medical Officer, GVN; Senior Associate Vice President, USF Health; Dean,
University of South Florida College of Public Health
Expertise: HIV/AIDS, HPV, COVID-19, parasitic diseases, emerging infectious diseases (including avian influenza)
Stephano Bertozzi, MD, PhD
Professor, Health Policy and Management, UC Berkeley; Co-director, Berkeley Public Health China Program; Editor in Chief, Rapid Reviews: COVID-19
Expertise: HIV, SARS-COV-2
Shyam Kottilil, MD, PhD
Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine; Co-Director, IHV Clinical Research Unit; Division Head; Infectious Diseases; Interim Director of Institute of Human Virology
Expertise: HBV, HCV, HIV, Immunology
Shyam Mohapatra, PhD, MBA
Distinguished Health Professor;
Director, Center for Research and Education in Nanomedicine and Bioengineering;
Program Director, Antiviral Therapeutics at the Institute of Translational Virology and Innovation, Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine;
Senior Research Career Scientist, James A. Haley VA Hospital;
Co-Founder and President, FL Association of Nanotechnology and Global Academy of Nanobiotechnology
Expertise: Immunology, Oncology, RSV, HIV
Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH
Director, Polio Program, Gates Foundation
Expertise: Polio, Influenza, Rotavirus, SARS-CoV-2
Madhavan Pillai, MD
Advisory Board Chairman, Oncology Centre, Dr. KM Cherian Institute of Medical Sciences; Clinical Professor of Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University; President of International Network of Cancer Treatment & Research
Expertise: Oncology
Marco Salemi, MS, PhD
Professor of Experimental Pathology, Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, UF College of Medicine; Holloway Chair for research in Chronic and Infectious Disease; Emerging Pathogens Institute Interim Director
Expertise: Molecular Evolution, Phylogenetic Analysis, HIV, HCV, HTLV, Influenza, SARS-CoV-2
John Sinnott, MD
Professor, Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida
Expertise: HIV, Influenza, SARS-CoV-2
