2006 Rydell ProfessorshipRobert Gallo

Robert Charles Gallo

Robert C. Gallo is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and in the development of the HIV blood test, and he has been a major contributor to subsequent HIV research.

Gallo is the director and co-founder of the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, established in 1996 in a partnership including the State of Maryland and the City of Baltimore. In 2011, Gallo was named the first Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine. Gallo is also a co-founder of biotechnology company Profectus BioSciences, Inc. and co-founder and scientific director of the Global Virus Network (GVN).

Gallo was a speaker at the Nobel Conference in 1998.

Dr. Robert Gallo, was the 2006 Rydell Distinguished Professor, and taught a seminar in virology at Gustavus. Also as part of his residency, he delivered three public lectures on campus. The first lecture focused on the background and discovery of HIV as the cause of AIDS. His second lecture focused on current research into a preventative vaccine for HIV and the current theories on how to achieve this. The final lecture, the keynote address for the College’s MAYDAY! Conference, focused on the unfolding crisis of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. Gallo’s residency in spring 2006 was made possible by the Rydell Distinguished Professorship funded by the Drs. Robert E. and Susan T. Rydell.