William A. Blattner is an American virologist and physician known for his pioneering studies on the epidemiology of human

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. Once inside the host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase ...

es. He is a professor of medicine at the

University of Maryland School of Medicine The University of Maryland School of Medicine (abbreviated UMSOM), located in Baltimore City, Maryland, U.S., is the medical school of the University of Maryland, Baltimore and is affiliated with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Me ...

, where he co-founded the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) with Robert Gallo and

Robert R. Redfield Robert Ray Redfield Jr. (born July 10, 1951) is an American virologist who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry from 2018 to 202 ...

in 1996. He subsequently helped found the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, which has screened over 1 million Nigerians for HIV/AIDS. He retired from his position as associate director of the IHV and director of its Division of Epidemiology and Prevention on January 31, 2016. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of the ''

Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes The ''Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of research in HIV/AIDS, including basic science, clinical science, and epidemiology. It is currently published by Lippincott Williams ...

'', and serves as its co-editor-in-chief along with

Paul A. Volberding Paul A. Volberding is an American physician who is best known for his pioneering work in treating people with HIV. Work In 1983, Volberding founded the first inpatient ward for persons with AIDS in the San Francisco General Hospital. He worked ...

Education and career

Blattner received his bachelor's degree in 1966 from Washington University in St. Louis and his medical degree in 1970 from Washington University School of Medicine. He then worked for the National Cancer Institute for 22 years before joining the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1995.

Work

Along with his then-colleague Gallo at the National Cancer Institute, Blattner defined the link between HTLV-1 and adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma, and played an important role working alongside Gallo on his pioneering research on HIV and

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

Honors and awards

Blattner has received the Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University. He has also received the

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...

Award from the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

and the American Public Health Association.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blattner, William A. Living people HIV/AIDS researchers American virologists University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty Washington University School of Medicine alumni Medical journal editors American epidemiologists Year of birth missing (living people) Washington University in St. Louis alumni