Prof. Daniel Lamarre, Ph.D.

Daniel Lamarre began his academic career in 2003, after having spent some thirteen years as a research scientist in the pharmaceutical industry. Working at the Université de Montréal today, he leads the Molecular Immunovirology and Cancer (IRIC) and is full professor at the Department of Medicine. He directs the Hepatology/Gastro-enterology Research Axis of the CHUM research centre. He also holds the Université de Montréal Novartis/Canadian Liver Foundation Hepatology Research Chair. Dr. Lamarre joined Boehringer Ingelheim, formely Bio-Méga, where he did research on therapeutic agents for viral infections. He played a key role in the discovery of the HIV inhibitor "palinavir". In 1995, he was appointed HCV Research Coordinator at Boehringer Ingelheim. In this capacity, he devoted his efforts to studying the ability of HCV to interfere with immune mechanisms and lead to the development of serious liver diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in affected persons. After seven years of research on this virus, Dr. Lamarre and his team developed the experimental drug BILN 2061, the first compound in its class to be evaluated in subjects infected with HCV. In the clinical research phase, BILN 2061 has shown its ability to reduce the viral load by a factor up to 10,000 in the first 24 hours of treatment, demonstrating for the first time that this class of antiviral represents a very promising therapeutic approach.

Prof. Patrice Cacoub, M.D.

Prof. Cacoub is Professor of Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, La pitié-Salpétrière Hospital (Paris VI and University Pierre et Marie Curie). He is certified in internal medicine, cardiology and vascular medicine and is an expert in management of patients and in some research fields (connective tissue diseases, hepatitis C virus infection, and cardiovascular diseases).

Prof. Bruno Lacarelle, Pharm.D. Ph.D

Prof. Lacarelle is Professor of Pharmacokinetics, Department of pharmacokinetics, Timone Hospital (faculty of pharmacy, Marseille). He is certified in pharmacokinetics and is an expert in bioavailability and kinetics of antiviral drugs.

Prof. Raymond Schinazi, Ph.D

Dr. Schinazi has been involved in the discovery and development of a number of significant and highly successful anti-HIV and anti-hepatitis B virus compounds that have been among the most potent and lifesaving tools against these viruses. Six of his drug discoveries are now approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or are at various stages of clinical development. His research in collaboration with Dr. Dennis C. Liotta led to the discovery of Lamivudine (also known as 3TC), one of the most widely used anti-HBC and anti-HIV agents. His work also has resulted in the formation of several startup biotechnology companies that focus on HIV and hepatitis therapies, including Triangle Pharmaceuticals (subsequently purchased by Gilead Sciences), Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Cambridge , Mass. Pharmasset, Inc., in Princeton, NJ, and most recently RFS Pharma LLC in Atlanta, Ga. Dr. Schinazi has published extensively on numerous anti-HBV compounds including telbivudine, clevudine, racivir, amdoxovir and emtricitabine, anti-HBV drugs that are now in advanced clinical trials. Dr. Schinazi has published more than 400 peerreviewed papers and authored three books on viral hepatitis. Dr. Schinazi also is senior research carrer scientist at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and affiliate scientist at Yerkes National Primate Research Center. He is the virology/pharmacology core co-director for the Emory Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).