Professor Raymond F. Schinazi, PhD, Hon DSc, FAASLD, is the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and Director of the Center for ViroScience and Cure, and the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University. Dr. Schinazi holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bath, England (1976). Dr. Schinazi has authored over 600 peer-reviewed papers and 6 books. He holds over 100 issued US patents, which have resulted in 28 New Drug Applications (NDA). Dr. Schinazi is best known for his pioneering work on HIV, HBV and HCV drugs including FTC (emtricitabine), LdT (telbivudine), and sofosbuvir (Sovaldi). More than 94% of HIV-infected individuals in the US on combination therapy take at least one of the drugs he invented. He is also the inventor of the use of baricitimid, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. He is the founder of several successful companies including Pharmasset Inc, Idenix Inc, and Triangle Pharmaceuticals. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including: 2018 France’s highest civilian honor, the Légion D’honneur, for saving millions of lives globally; the AASLD Distinguished Achievement Award, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Schinazi is internationally recognized as one of the most influential persons in the life science sector.
Dr. Guido Silvestri
Dr. Guido Silvestri is Professor and Chair in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Silvestri earned his M.D. from the University of Ancona in Italy and went on to complete his training in Internal Medicine/Allergology and Clinical Immunology. Moving to the United States, he completed a residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and received a Board Certification in Clinical Pathology. Since then, Dr. Silvestri has been involved in basic and translational research studies of AIDS pathogenesis, prevention, and therapy, mostly using non-human primate models of HIV infection. He is involved in the Consortium for Innovative AIDS Research (CIAR) in non-human primates, the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology (CHAVI), and the Collaboratory of AIDS Researchers for Eradication (CARE). Among his current appointments, Dr. Silvestri is co-director of the Emory-based Enterprise for Research and Advocacy to Stop and Eradicate HIV (ERASE HIV), President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Spallanzani-INMI (Rome, Italy), Co-Chair of the Scientific Council of the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche sur le SIDA, member of the Scientific Committee of the Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), member of the International AIDS Society Scientific Working Group on HIV Cure, and Co-Chaired the 9th International AIDS Conference in Paris, July 2017.
