UMBI’s Institute of Human Virology
Teams with China’s CDC to Fight AIDS

Baltimore, MD- UMBI’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV) and China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention today signed an agreement to work together to develop new treatments and a preventive vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The agreement also calls for IHV to train Chinese medical researchers and doctors in its Baltimore laboratories and at research institutions in China.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera, President of UMBI, Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Director of the Institute of Human Virology, and Dr. Yu Wang, Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

   
(From left to right) Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera, President of UMBI; Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele; Dr. Yu Wang, Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Director of the Institute of Human Virology.

Dr. Gallo, a co-discoverer of HIV in 1984 who with colleagues showed that HIV was the cause of AIDS and developed the blood test to screen for the virus, described the partnership with China as “an historic milestone in international HIV/AIDS cooperation”, saying “ideally this partnership will mean two hemispheres of the globe joining to solve the problem of HIV/AIDS.”

IHV and the National AIDS/STD Center of China CDC will also work together on scientific research and clinical programs to enable the world’s most populous nation to address a growing number of infections. According to the United Nations, China has 840,000 people infected with the AIDS virus.

Dr. Wang said “International collaboration is part of China’s AIDS control effort and is more needed when our national efforts are scaling up. This agreement lifts the collaboration between scientists to a new level.”

While the disease in China remains confined mainly to high-risk groups such as intravenous drug users, former blood plasma donors and commercial sex workers, it is vital for the country to stop the epidemic from spreading to the general population. The country faces shortages in the number of doctors trained to diagnose and treat HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera said, “We are delighted that IHV and the China CDC are linking their talents to combat this disease that touches so many lives around the world.”

The signing was attended by Lt. Governor Michael S. Steele and a large group of standing-room only crowd of American and Chinese scientists and government officials and coincided with IHV’s Annual International Meeting, which runs through September 2. The Meeting annually attracts hundreds of leading HIV/AIDS researchers from nearly 30 countries.

IHV is a center of UMBI and is affiliated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine. For more information visit www.ihv.org

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To view the this story on WBAL-TV 11 click HERE. For more information, contact: Jayme Wood, (410) 986-1311, (410) 905-1886 jwood@tbc.us or Alicia Moran, 410-385-6310, moran@umbi.umd.edu

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is the first and only biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu