Rino Rappuoli

Rino Rappuoli is Chief Scientist and Head External R&D at GSK Vaccines, based in Siena, Italy and Honorary Professor of Vaccinology at Imperial College, London and Extraordinary Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Siena. Prior positions held were: head of Vaccine R&D at Novartis, CSO of Chiron Corporation, head for R&D at Sclavo. He earned his PhD in Biological Sciences at the University of Siena, Italy, and was visiting scientist at Rockefeller University and Harvard Medical School. He is elected member of US National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and the Royal Society of London. Awards received: Gold Medal by the Italian President, Albert B Sabin Gold Medal, Canada Gairdner International Award, European Inventor Award for Lifetime Achievement, Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize and the Robert Koch Award. He was nominated third most influential person worldwide in the field of vaccines (Terrapin). He has published 738 works in peer-reviewed journals. He introduced novel scientific concepts: genetic detoxification; cellular microbiology; reverse vaccinology; pangenome. Developed licensed vaccines: acellular pertussis containing a non-toxic mutant of pertussis toxin; first conjugate vaccine against meningococcus C; MF59-adjuvanted seasonal and pandemic influenza MF59 was the first vaccine adjuvant after aluminium salts; meningococcus B; CRM 197 used as carrier in many conjugate vaccines. Founder of the GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH). Dr. Rappuoli is among the world scientific leaders dedicated to the sustainability of global health.