Francis V. Chisari

Chisari graduated in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in biology from Fordham University and in 1968 with an M.D. from Cornell University's Weill Medical College. He was in 1970 and 1971 a fellow in anatomic pathology at the Mayo Clinic and in 1972 a staff associate in immunopathology at the NIH's Laboratory of Pathology. In 1973 he completed his residency in internal medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. At Scripps Research he became a research fellow, then an assistant professor from 1975 to 1981, an associate professor from 1981 to 1988, and a full professor from 1988 to 2015, retiring as professor emeritus in 2105. At Scripps Research he headed the Division of Experimental Pathology from 1988 to 2008 and the Laboratory of Experimental Virology from 2008 to 2015. From 1983 to 1984 he was a Fogarty Scholar in molecular biology at the Institut Pasteur.[3] He is now a scientific advisor for Vir Biotechnology.[4][5]

Chisari is perhaps most famous for his research on viral proteins that can cause hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Chisari’s group has made vast contributions to the clinical field by performing transgenic mouse studies to investigate immune-mediated hepatitis and hepatocarcinogenesis ... In the 1980s, they produced a transgenic mouse model that overexpressed the large protein of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). It induced severe, prolonged hepatocellular injury that was characterized by inflammation and regenerative hyperplasia, resulting in the development of HCC ... This was the first transgenic mouse model in which the development of HCC was observed from the function of a single viral protein.[6]

Chisari's research is important in the immunobiology and pathology of hepatitis-B and hepatitis-C virus (HBV and HCV) infections. His laboratory has developed cell-based models and animal models of HBV and HCV infection and has done T-cell analysis of infected humans, subhuman primates, and transgenic mice. He and his co-workers developed the first transgenic mouse model for pathogenic viruses involved in liver cancer. Their research showed how chronic hepatitis triggers liver cancer (whereby an overproduction of a protein in the virus envelope plays a special role). His group also showed that cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) secrete cytokiness that prevent the virus from multiplying in the liver cell without killing the cell. His research also resulted in various approaches for immunotherapy in (chronic) hepatitis, for example, through the body's own activated dendritic cells.[7]

Chisari has served on the editorial boards of many scientific journals, including the American Journal of Pathology, Hematology, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the Journal of Immunology, the Journal of Virology, PLoS Pathogens, Virology, and Current Opinion in Virology.[3] He is the inventor or co-inventor for many patents on various peptides for treating or preventing viral infections caused by hepatitis-B or hepatitis-C.[8]

• 1996 — Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[9]
• 1997 — Ernst Jung Prize
• 1999 — Rous-Whipple Award of the American Society for Investigative Pathology[10]
• 1999 — Distinguished Achievement Award of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases[11]
• 2002 — Member of the National Academy of Sciences[2]
• 2003 — Member of the National Academy of Medicine[12]

• Kapadia, S. B.; Chisari, F. V. (2005). "Hepatitis C virus RNA replication is regulated by host geranylgeranylation and fatty acids". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (7): 2561–6. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.2561K. doi:10.1073/pnas.0409834102. PMC 549027. PMID 15699349.
• Robek, M. D.; Boyd, B. S.; Chisari, F. V. (2005). "Lambda interferon inhibits hepatitis B and C virus replication". Journal of Virology. 79 (6): 3851–4. doi:10.1128/JVI.79.6.3851-3854.2005. PMC 1075734. PMID 15731279.
• Gilbert, R. J.; Beales, L.; Blond, D.; Simon, M. N.; Lin, B. Y.; Chisari, F. V.; Stuart, D. I.; Rowlands, D. J. (2005). "Hepatitis B small surface antigen particles are octahedral". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (41): 14783–8. Bibcode:2005PNAS..10214783G. doi:10.1073/pnas.0505062102. PMC 1253561. PMID 16203986.
• Chisari, F. V. (2005). "Unscrambling hepatitis C virus-host interactions". Nature. 436 (7053): 930–2. Bibcode:2005Natur.436..930C. doi:10.1038/nature04076. PMID 16107831. S2CID 24837913. Cited in PMC
• Wieland, S. F.; Chisari, F. V. (2005). "Stealth and cunning: Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses". Journal of Virology. 79 (15): 9369–80. doi:10.1128/JVI.79.15.9369-9380.2005. PMC 1181548. PMID 16014900. Free full text Cited in PMC
• Wieland, S. F.; Eustaquio, A.; Whitten-Bauer, C.; Boyd, B.; Chisari, F. V. (2005). "Interferon prevents formation of replication-competent hepatitis B virus RNA-containing nucleocapsids". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102 (28): 9913–7. Bibcode:2005PNAS..102.9913W. doi:10.1073/pnas.0504273102. PMC 1175012. PMID 15994231.
• Bukh, J.; Thimme, R.; Meunier, J. C.; Faulk, K.; Spangenberg, H. C.; Chang, K. M.; Satterfield, W.; Chisari, F. V.; Purcell, R. H. (2008). "Previously infected chimpanzees are not consistently protected against reinfection or persistent infection after reexposure to the identical hepatitis C virus strain". Journal of Virology. 82 (16): 8183–95. doi:10.1128/JVI.00142-08. PMC 2519567. PMID 18550671.
• Bobardt, M. D.; Cheng, G.; De Witte, L.; Selvarajah, S.; Chatterji, U.; Sanders-Beer, B. E.; Geijtenbeek, T. B.; Chisari, F. V.; Gallay, P. A. (2008). "Hepatitis C virus NS5A anchor peptide disrupts human immunodeficiency virus". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (14): 5525–30. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.5525B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0801388105. PMC 2291127. PMID 18378908.
• Asabe, S.; Wieland, S. F.; Chattopadhyay, P. K.; Roederer, M.; Engle, R. E.; Purcell, R. H.; Chisari, F. V. (2009). "The size of the viral inoculum contributes to the outcome of hepatitis B virus infection". Journal of Virology. 83 (19): 9652–62. doi:10.1128/JVI.00867-09. PMC 2748002. PMID 19625407.
• Takahashi, K.; Asabe, S.; Wieland, S.; Garaigorta, U.; Gastaminza, P.; Isogawa, M.; Chisari, F. V. (2010). "Plasmacytoid dendritic cells sense hepatitis C virus-infected cells, produce interferon, and inhibit infection". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (16): 7431–6. doi:10.1073/pnas.1002301107. PMC 2867703. PMID 20231459.
• Bissig, K. D.; Wieland, S. F.; Tran, P.; Isogawa, M.; Le, T. T.; Chisari, F. V.; Verma, I. M. (2010). "Human liver chimeric mice provide a model for hepatitis B and C virus infection and treatment". The Journal of Clinical Investigation. 120 (3): 924–30. doi:10.1172/JCI40094. PMC 2827952. PMID 20179355.
• Gastaminza, P.; Whitten-Bauer, C.; Chisari, F. V. (2010). "Unbiased probing of the entire hepatitis C virus life cycle identifies clinical compounds that target multiple aspects of the infection". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (1): 291–6. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107..291G. doi:10.1073/pnas.0912966107. PMC 2806752. PMID 19995961.
• Bandi, P.; Garcia, M. L.; Booth, C. J.; Chisari, F. V.; Robek, M. D. (2010). "Bortezomib inhibits hepatitis B virus replication in transgenic mice". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 54 (2): 749–56. doi:10.1128/AAC.01101-09. PMC 2812171. PMID 19949053.
• Yang, P. L.; Althage, A.; Chung, J.; Maier, H.; Wieland, S.; Isogawa, M.; Chisari, F. V. (2010). "Immune effectors required for hepatitis B virus clearance". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 107 (2): 798–802. Bibcode:2010PNAS..107..798Y. doi:10.1073/pnas.0913498107. PMC 2818933. PMID 20080755.
• Asabe, S.; Wieland, S. F.; Chattopadhyay, P. K.; Roederer, M.; Engle, R. E.; Purcell, R. H.; Chisari, F. V. (2009). "The size of the viral inoculum contributes to the outcome of hepatitis B virus infection". Journal of Virology. 83 (19): 9652–62. doi:10.1128/JVI.00867-09. PMC 2748002. PMID 19625407.
• Chisari, F. V.; Isogawa, M.; Wieland, S. F. (2010). "Pathogenesis of hepatitis B virus infection". Pathologie-Biologie. 58 (4): 258–66. doi:10.1016/j.patbio.2009.11.001. PMC 2888709. PMID 20116937.
• Dreux, M.; Chisari, F. V. (2011). "Impact of the autophagy machinery on hepatitis C virus infection". Viruses. 3 (8): 1342–57. doi:10.3390/v3081342. PMC 3185811. PMID 21994783.Chisari, F. V.; García-Sastre, A. (2011). "Pioneers of pathogenesis: Past and present". Current Opinion in Virology. 1 (3): 157–9. doi:10.1016/j.coviro.2011.06.006. PMID 22440715.
• Guidotti, L. G.; Isogawa, M.; Chisari, F. V. (2015). "Host-virus interactions in hepatitis B virus infection". Current Opinion in Immunology. 36: 61–6. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2015.06.016. PMC 4593767. PMID 26186123.
• Revill, P. A.; Chisari, F. V.; Block, J. M.; Dandri, M.; Gehring, A. J.; Guo, H.; Hu, J.; Kramvis, A.; Lampertico, P.; Janssen HLA; Levrero, M.; Li, W.; Liang, T. J.; Lim, S. G.; Lu, F.; Penicaud, M. C.; Tavis, J. E.; Thimme, R.; Members of the ICE-HBV Working Groups; ICE-HBV Stakeholders Group Chairs; ICE-HBV Senior Advisors; Zoulim, F. (2019). "A global scientific strategy to cure hepatitis B". The Lancet. Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 4 (7): 545–558. doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(19)30119-0. PMC 6732795. PMID 30981686.
• Alter, H. J.; Chisari, F. V. (2019). "Is Elimination of Hepatitis B and C a Pipe Dream or Reality?". Gastroenterology. 156 (2): 294–296. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2018.12.015. PMID 30593764.