Draft:Paolo Lusso

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Paolo Lusso is an Italian doctor and scientist. Since 2020, he is also a United States citizen.

He is the Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Section at the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH, in Bethesda, Maryland (USA). He conducts biomedical research in the field of HIV-1 pathogenesis and vaccine development. He is best known for his 1995 discovery of three chemokines (chemotactic cytokines) that naturally block HIV-1, i.e., RANTES, MIP-1a and MIP-1b¹ which inaugurated the field of HIV and chemokines², and was recognized by Science magazine as "Breakthrough of the Year"³. In recent years, he has devised an original strategy for the development of a protective vaccine for HIV-1 based on mRNA.

He is married with Patrizia Farci, another Italian doctor and scientist. They have one son, Emanuele.

Education

Paolo Lusso earned his M.D. at the University of Turin (1981, summa cum laude) and then became board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine (University of Turin) and Infectious Diseases (University of Milan). In 1989, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Bologna. His was initial trained at the Department of Internal Medicine of the University of Turin (Molinette Hospital) under Robin Foa and Felice Gavosto.

Career

In 1986, Lusso joined the laboratory of Robert C. Gallo at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Bethesda, Maryland, where he worked until 1994 on the newly discovered human herpesvirus HHV-6 and HIV-1. In 1995, he returned to Italy to become the Chief of the Laboratory of Human Virology at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan where he established a research team focused on the role of chemokines in HIV-1/AIDS.4 He was also nominated Professor of Infectious Diseases and Director of the Post-Graduate School of Infectious Diseases initially at the University of Bologna and, subsequently, at the University of Cagliari. In 2007, he returned to the NIH, where he became Chief of the Viral Pathogenesis Section at the LIR, NIAID.

Research

Lusso's major scientific accomplishments include the establishment of the first connection between the fields of HIV-1 and chemokines with his discovery of three chemokines that naturally block HIV-1 (i.e., RANTES, MIP−1α and MIP−1β,¹ the elucidation of multiple mechanisms of interaction between the CD4⁺ T-lymphotropic human herpesvirus HHV-6 and HIV-1,^5-7 the in-vitro and in-vivo characterization of chemokine receptor usage by HIV-1,^8,9 the identification of the cellular receptors for HHV-6¹⁰ and HHV-7,¹¹ the discovery of a second receptor (CD4)-binding site for HIV-1,¹² and the development of a protective mRNA vaccine against HIV-1 (in collaboration with Moderna; featured on the cover page of the journal Nature Medicine).^13,14 The HIV-1 vaccine designed by Lusso utilizes mRNA to instruct the body to produce virus-like particles (VLPs), which closely mimic real-life HIV-1 virions (albeit lacking infectivity) and, thereby, induce more effective immune responses. It has demonstrated protective efficacy in rhesus macaques.¹³

Lusso has published more than 220 research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, in addition to many book chapters and editorials. He is an Executive Editor of Current HIV Research and a member of the Editorial Board of several scientific journals.

Major Honors and Awards

◦ "Breakthrough of the Year 1996" (for the discovery of the HIV-suppressive chemokines), Science, Washington, D.C. (USA)

◦ EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization), Elected Member, Heidelberg, Germany

◦ Norman P. Salzman Memorial Award for Mentorship in Virology, Bethesda, Maryland (USA)

◦ AAM (American Academy of Microbiology), Elected Fellow, Washington, D.C. (USA)

References

1. Cocchi F, DeVico AL, Garzino-Demo A, Arya SK, Gallo RC, Lusso P (1995). Identification of RANTES, MIP-1 alpha, and MIP-1 beta as the major HIV-suppressive factors produced by CD8⁺ T cells. Science, 270: 1811-5. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5243.1811.

2. Balter, M (1995). Elusive HIV-suppressor factors found. Science, 270: 1560–1561. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5242.1560.

3. Bloom FE (1996). Breakthroughs of the Year, 1996. Science, 274: 1987.doi: 10.1126/science.274.5295.1987

4. Balter, M (1995). Returning Emigres Add New Luster to AIDS Research. Science, 269: 24-25. doi: 10.1126/science.7604274.

5. Lusso P, Ensoli B, Markham PD, Ablashi DV, Salahuddin SZ, Tschachler E, Wong-Staal F, Gallo RC (1989). Productive dual infection of human CD4+ T lymphocytes by HIV-1 and HHV-6. Nature, 337: 370-373, 1989. doi: 10.1038/337370a0.

6. Lusso P, De Maria A, Malnati M, Lori F, De Rocco SE, Baseler M, Gallo RC (1991). Induction of CD4 and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in human CD8+ T lymphocytes by human herpesvirus 6. Nature, 349: 533-535. doi: 10.1038/349533a0.

7. Lusso P, Malnati M, Garzino-Demo A, Crowley RW, Long EO, Gallo RC (1993). Infection of natural killer cells by human herpesvirus 6. Nature, 362: 458-462.  doi: 10.1038/362458a0.