Francis V. Chisari

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Francis "Frank" Vincent Chisari (born 5 April 1942 in New York City) [1] is a physician, experimental pathologist, and viral immunologist, known for his research on virus-host interactions and disease pathogenesis during hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections. [2]

Contents

Education and career

Chisari earned a bachelor's degree in biology magna cum laude from Fordham University in 1963 and an M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1968. His postgraduate training included an internship in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital (1968-69), residency in anatomic pathology at the Mayo Clinic (1969-70), a staff associate position in immunopathology at the NIH (1970-72), residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (1972-73), and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in immunopathology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation (1973-75). He joined the Scripps Faculty as an Assistant Professor (1975-81), progressing to Associate Professor (1981-88) during which he spent a sabbatical year (1983-1984) as a Fogarty Scholar in molecular biology at the Institut Pasteur, [3] and Full Professor from 1988 until retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2015.

During his tenure at Scripps, Chisari's NIH-funded research focused on the immunological basis for viral clearance and disease pathogenesis during acute and persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections; the signaling pathways and effector molecules that mediate these antiviral and pathogenic effects; and the viral evasion strategies that subvert them. His laboratory developed cell-based and animal models of HBV and HCV infection and performed foundational studies elucidating the T-cell response to these viruses in infected humans, subhuman primates, and transgenic mice.

Chisari is best known for demonstrating that chronic immune-mediated injury and inflammation can cause liver cancer, and for discovering that antiviral T cells can purge viruses from infected cells noncytolytically by secreting antiviral cytokines that inhibit viral replication, thus controlling and even eradicating the infection while preserving the vital functions of the infected cells. Those studies established a new paradigm in viral pathogenesis and immunobiology which has informed the pursuit of novel immunotherapeutic approaches for the prevention and treatment of chronic HBV and other viral infections. [4]

In the HCV arena, his laboratory developed a cell culture system capable of supporting the entire HCV life cycle; identified a novel mechanism for viral spread via exosomal delivery of HCV genomic RNA from infected hepatocytes to uninfected hepatocytes masked by the exosome from detection by antiviral antibodies; and they discovered that HCV genomic RNA-containing exosomes can trigger an innate host response by activating plasmacytoid dendritic cells to produce antiviral cytokines that can suppress viral spread.

In addition to his basic research, from 1988 to 2004 Chisari served as Director of an NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center where he and other Scripps scientists and clinicians performed a wide variety of peer-reviewed clinical studies of patients with viral infections, autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, metabolic diseases and cancer.

Chisari has lectured widely internationally; he has served on the editorial boards of several distinguished scientific journals; and he holds numerous patents on the use of viral peptide epitopes to treat and to prevent hepatitis-B or hepatitis-C virus infections. [5] In recognition of his contributions, Chisari has received numerous honors and awards, including those listed below.

Awards and honors

Selected publications

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References

  1. ↑ biographical information from American Men and Women of Science, Thomson Gale 2004.
  2. 1 2 "Francis V. Chisari". National Academy of Sciences (nasonline.org).
  3. ↑ "Frank Chisari, MD". Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research.
  4. ↑ "Rous-Whipple Award – 1999, Francis V. Chisari" (PDF). American Society for Investigative Pathology.
  5. ↑ "Patents by Inventor Francis V. Chisari". Justia Patents (patents.justia.com).
  6. ↑ "Historic Fellows Listing". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  7. ↑ Chisari, Francis V. (2000). "Viruses, Immunity, and Cancer: Lessons from Hepatitis B". The American Journal of Pathology. 156 (4): 1117–1132. doi:10.1016/S0002-9440(10)64980-2. ISSN   0002-9440. PMC   1876872 . PMID   10751335.
  8. ↑ "Distinguished Achievement Award Recipients". American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (aasld.org).
  9. ↑ "Chisari, Francis V., Member Directory". National Academy of Medicine.
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