Robert Gallo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Gallo
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Gallo in 1980
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Robert Charles Gallo
March 23, 1937 Waterbury, Connecticut, U.S.
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| Education | Providence College (BS) Thomas Jefferson University (MD) |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Known for | Co-discoverer of HIV |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Medical doctor |
| Institutions | National Cancer Institute |
| Sub-specialties | Infectious disease and virology |
| Research | Biomedical research |
| Awards | Lasker Award (1982, 1986) Charles S. Mott Prize (1984) Dickson Prize (1985) Japan Prize (1988) Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1999) Gold Mercury International Award (2006) Dan David Prize (2009) |
Robert Charles Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is an American scientist who studies medicine and biology. He is famous for his important work in finding the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This virus causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Dr. Gallo also helped create the blood test for HIV. He has continued to contribute a lot to HIV research.
Dr. Gallo is the director and a co-founder of the Institute of Human Virology (IHV). This institute is part of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. It started in 1996. In 2011, he became the first Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine. Dr. Gallo also helped start a company called Profectus BioSciences, Inc. He is also a co-founder and scientific director of the Global Virus Network (GVN).
From 1980 to 1990, Dr. Gallo was the most frequently cited scientist in the world. This means other scientists often referred to his work. He has written over 1,300 scientific papers.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robert Gallo was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. His family was working-class and of Italian descent. In 1959, he earned a degree in biology from Providence College. He then received his medical degree (M.D.) in 1963 from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After finishing his medical training at the University of Chicago, he became a researcher. He worked for 30 years at the National Cancer Institute. There, he mainly led the Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology.
Discovering Important Viruses
Dr. Gallo has shared that his sister's early death from leukemia influenced his career choice. He first focused much of his research on this disease.
Understanding T-Cells and Retroviruses
Dr. Gallo became very interested in studying retroviruses. These are special viruses that can put their genetic material into the host cell's DNA. In 1976, a researcher in his lab, Doris Morgan, found a way to grow T lymphocytes. T-cells are a type of white blood cell important for the immune system.
Dr. Gallo's team identified a special growth factor that helped T-cells grow. They first called it T-cell growth factor (TCGF). Later, its name was changed to IL-2 (interleukin-2). This discovery was very important. It allowed scientists to grow T-cells in the lab for the first time. This opened up new ways to study how T-cells work in the immune system.
This breakthrough also helped researchers study viruses that affect T-cells. One such virus was the human T-cell leukemia virus, or HTLV. This was the first retrovirus found in humans. Dr. Gallo's lab played a key role in isolating it. Later, Japanese researchers also found the same retrovirus. Both groups showed that HTLV caused certain types of leukemia. In 1982, Dr. Gallo received the Lasker Award for his pioneering work on this virus.
Researching HIV and AIDS
On May 4, 1984, Dr. Gallo and his team published several papers. They showed that a retrovirus they had isolated caused AIDS. They called this virus HTLV-III. Around the same time, a French team led by Luc Montagnier had also published a paper in 1983. They described a retrovirus they called LAV.
Dr. Gallo received his second Lasker Award in 1986. This was for showing that the retrovirus, now known as HIV-1, causes AIDS. He is the only person to receive two Lasker Awards. In 1986, Dr. Gallo and his colleagues also discovered human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6). This virus was later found to cause Roseola infantum, a common childhood illness.
In 1995, Dr. Gallo and his team made another important discovery. They found that certain natural compounds called chemokines can stop HIV. This discovery was recognized as one of the top scientific breakthroughs of the year. It changed how scientists understood how HIV affects the immune system. It also led to new medicines for treating HIV.
Dr. Gallo, along with Robert R. Redfield and William A. Blattner, founded the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) in 1996. His team at the institute continues to do scientific research. They also provide care and treatment for people with HIV/AIDS. They treat thousands of patients in Baltimore and hundreds of thousands in Africa and the Caribbean. The IHV has received large grants from organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These grants support research for a preventive vaccine for HIV/AIDS.
The Discovery of HIV and the Nobel Prize
The story of who first discovered HIV has been discussed a lot. Dr. Montagnier's group in France isolated HIV about a year and a half before Dr. Gallo's team. However, Dr. Gallo's group showed that the virus caused AIDS. They also developed important scientific methods that made the discovery possible. This included a technique to grow T-cells in the lab. When Dr. Montagnier's group first published their findings, they noted that the virus's role in causing AIDS still needed to be confirmed.
Over time, investigations helped clarify the situation. Scientists found that a virus sample from Dr. Montagnier's lab had accidentally mixed with samples in Dr. Gallo's lab. This led to some confusion. In 1987, the governments of the United States and France agreed to share the profits from the HIV blood test patent. They named Dr. Montagnier and Dr. Gallo as co-discoverers. Both scientists later published articles together, acknowledging each other's key roles in the discovery of HIV.
In 2008, Dr. Montagnier and his colleague Françoise Barré-Sinoussi received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on discovering HIV. Dr. Gallo was not included in this award. He expressed disappointment, and Dr. Montagnier also said he was "surprised" that Dr. Gallo was not recognized. Dr. Montagnier stated that it was important to prove HIV caused AIDS, and Dr. Gallo had a very important role in that.
Organizations and Continued Work
In 2005, Dr. Gallo co-founded Profectus BioSciences, Inc. This company works on developing technologies to reduce illnesses and deaths caused by human viral diseases, including HIV.
In 2011, Dr. Gallo also founded the Global Virus Network (GVN). He started it with William Hall and Reinhard Kurth. The GVN aims to increase teamwork among scientists who study viruses. It also works to expand training programs for virologists. The network helps fill gaps in research, especially when new viral outbreaks happen.
See also
In Spanish: Robert Gallo para niños
