Robert Gallo, MD

James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine

Director, USF Health Virology Institute

Director, Microbial Oncology Program

Chairman, Scientific Leadership Board and Co-Founder, Global Virus Network

Contact Info

• USF Research Park
  3814 Spectrum Blvd
  Tampa FL 33612
• Academic Phone: (301) 844-1525

Education

Biography

Dr. Robert C. Gallo is world-renowned for his research on HIV, most notably his co-discovery in 1984 that HIV (a retrovirus) was the cause of AIDS and his development of the HIV blood test. Previously, Gallo and fellow scientists discovered the first human retrovirus, HTLV-1, a cause of adult T cell leukemia. The discoveries of all human retroviruses (HTLV-1, HTLV-2 and HIV) were dependent on Gallo’s earlier discovery in 1976 of interleukin-2 (IL-2), a growth factor for human T cells, which enabled scientists to culture human T cells for virus isolations. IL-2 is now also used widely in all cancer cell immunotherapy. In 1986, he isolated human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), the first new human herpes virus discovered in more than 25 years. Later, others showed HHV-6 caused Roseola. In 1996, his discovery that some natural compounds known as chemokines can block HIV was hailed by Science magazine as that year’s most important scientific breakthroughs. Gallo’s current work continues to lead groundbreaking studies in infectious diseases, cancer virology, and global health. Gallo has authored over 1,300 scientific publications as well as the book "Virus Hunting - AIDS, Cancer & the Human Retrovirus." Gallo has been awarded nearly 40 honorary doctorates and was twice recipient of the U.S. Albert Lasker Award in Medicine (1982 and 1986) and many other top honors from countries from around the world. He was the most cited scientist in the world from 1980 to 1990. Gallo is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. Gallo was previously at the National Cancer Institute from 1965 to 1995, co-founded and directed the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine from 1995-2024, and co-founded and chaired the Scientific Leadership Board of the Global Virus Network since 2011 to present, prior to joining the University of South Florida to found the USF Health Virology Institute and direct the Microbial Oncology Program at the Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute in 2024.

Research Interests

• Dr. Gallo focuses on retroviruses, cancer mechanisms, and the development of innovative therapies and diagnostics for viral diseases. He is also instrumental in and dedicated to bringing the world's leading virologists together to advance science and global public health through the Global Virus Network.

Awards/Honors

• Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award - 1982
• General Motors Charles S. Mott Cancer Research Prize - 1984
• Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award - 1986
• Birla International Award - 1986
• Gairdner Foundation International Award - 1987
• The Japan Prize for Science and Technology - 1988
• Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize - 1999
• Principe de Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research - 2000
• James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society - 2009
• Dan David Prize for Future Global Public Health - 2009
• Magna Graecia International Prize - 2020
• VCANBIO Award for International Cooperation in Life Sciences and Medicine - 2020

Memberships

• Royal Society of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow (1986 - Present)
• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1987 - Present)
• National Academy of Sciences (1988 - Present)
• Institute of Medicine (1989 - Present)
• Academy of Medicine, Italy (1994 - Present)
• Royal Society of Medicine, Belgium (1997 - Present)
• American Academy of Microbiology (1994 - Present)
• American Association for Cancer Research Academy (2014 - Present)

Recent Publications

• Benedetti, F., et al., & Gallo, R.C. Mycoplasma DnaK Expression Increases Cancer Development In Vivo Upon DNA Damage PNAS. 121(10) : e2320859121, 2023.
• Gallo, R.C., & Tagaya, Y. Reflections on Some of the Exceptional Features of HTLV-1 and HTLV-1 Research: A Perspective Front Immunol. 13: 859654, 2022.
• Gallo, R.C. The Great Coronavirus Pandemic of 2019-2021: The Future and the Requirement for China-America Cooperation China CDC Weekly. 3(7) , 2021.
• Konstantin Chumakova, et al. Old Vaccines for New Infections PNAS. 118(21) , 2021.
• Benedetti, F., Curreli, S., Gallo, R.C., & Zella, D. Exogenous Bacterial DnaK Increases Protein Kinase Activity in Human Cancer Cell Lines J Transl Med. 19(60) , 2021.
• Francesca Benedetti, et al. Tampering of Viruses and Bacteria with Host DNA Repair: Implications for Cellular Transformation Cancers. 13(2) : 241, 2021.
• Pachetti, M., et al. Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Mutation Hot Spots Include a Novel RNA-Dependent-RNA Polymerase Variant J Transl Med. 18(179) , 2020.
• Gallo, R.C. HIV/AIDS Research for the Future Cell Host & Microbe. 27(4) : 499-501, 2020.
• Yutaka Tagaya & Robert C. Gallo The Exceptional Oncogenicity of HTLV-1 Frontiers in Microbiology. , 2017.
• Gallo, R.C., et al. Balance of Cellular and Humoral Immunity Determines the Level of Protection by HIV Vaccines in Rhesus Macaque Models PNAS. , 2015.
• Lewis, G.K., DeVico, A.L., & Gallo, R.C. Antibody Persistence and T-Cell Balance: Two Key Factors Confronting HIV Vaccine Development PNAS. 111(44) : 15614-15621, 2014.
• Cocchi, F., et al. Soluble Factors from T Cells Inhibiting X4 Strains of HIV Are a Mixture of β Chemokines and RNases PNAS. 109(14) : 5411-5416, 2012.

Positions Held

• Chief (Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute 1965 - 1995)
• Co-Founder and Director (Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine 1995 - 2024)