PROF. Robert Gallo. He has dedicated his life to finding a cure for one of the most deadly
diseases of our time. His discovery of the HI-virus and research have
provided millions with hope. 
Since 1996, Prof. Robert C. Gallo, M.D. has been
Director of the Institute of Human Virology, a center of the University of Maryland
Biotechnology Institute, and Professor of Medicine and Microbiology in the School of
Medicine, University of Maryland in Baltimore. Before that he spent 30 years at the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,
mostly as head of the NCI Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology.
Dr. Gallo’s career-long interest has followed one theme: the study of the basic
biology of human blood cells, their normal and abnormal growth, and the causes of abnormal
growth whether excessive, e.g. leukemias, or insufficient, e.g. immune deficiencies.
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| The model and the doctor. HIV-positive
top-model Rebekka Armstrong delivered a stirring laudation for Dr. Gallo’s
accomplishments. |
In 1980 Dr. Gallo and his co-workers opened the field of human retroviruses when they
discovered the first human retrovirus (HTLV-1) and with others showed it was a cause of a
particular form of human leukemia. (This was the first, and to date, the only known human
leukemia virus and one of the few known viruses shown to cause a human cancer). A year
later he and his group discovered the second known human retrovirus (HTLV-2). HTLV-2 has
not yet been shown to cause disease. Dr. Gallo and his colleagues also independently
discovered HIV (the 3rd known human retrovirus). In a series of publications in 1984 they
also provided the first results to show that HIV was the cause of AIDS. They also
developed the life-saving HIV blood test, which was the first practical advance in AIDS
research.
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Discovered the HI-Virus. Prof. Robert Gallo and
his colleagues independently discovered HIV – the 3rd known human retrovirus –
which is the cause of AIDS.
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Life Saver. He also developed the lifesaving HIV
blood test, the first practical advance in AIDS research. Dr. Gallo and his team have
provided much of the basic information on HIV used by other researchers in this field.
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| Identifying the virus. Gallo’s blood test helped
protect the blood supply throughout much of the world, thereby preventing a far worse
pandemic. |
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