A Cure for Hepatitis C: Now What?- POSTPONED
Charles M. Rice, Ph.D.
Director, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Global Institute for Infectious Disease Research
Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor in Virology
The Rockefeller University
Dr. Rice is the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Chair in Virology and serves as Head of the Laboratory for Virology and Infectious Disease at The Rockefeller University. He is one of the world’s most accomplished virologists and a prominent figure in research on members of the Flaviviridae including hepatitis C virus (HCV).
Dr. Rice received his bachelor’s degree from University of California Davis in 1974 and earned his Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology in 1981. From 1986-2000, Dr. Rice was a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis. His research team has helped to understand the biogenesis and structure of HCV-encoded proteins, discovered a highly conserved RNA element at the 3’ terminus of HCV genome RNA, and produced the first infectious molecular clone of the virus—an essential tool for future studies on this important human pathogen. His laboratory has established cell culture systems and animal models for studying HCV replication and evaluating antiviral efficacy.
Dr. Rice has co-authored over 500 articles in the field of virology, serves as a reviewer for numerous journals, is a past President of the American Society for Virology, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Member of the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of the M. W. Beijernick, Dautrebande, Robert Koch, InBev Baillet-Latour prizes, the Lasker-Debakey Clinical Medical Research Award, and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Summary
Dr. Rice plans to present a personal history of his career studying animal viruses. From a surprise landing in a virology lab, to studying model enveloped arboviruses, Sindbis virus and yellow fever virus, and the dawn of molecular biology, which ushered in the ability to develop reverse genetic systems for probing virus biology and engineering viruses for new applications. In parallel, there was growing recognition of a new hepatitis virus affecting transfused patients. This led to the discovery of hepatitis C virus and the beginning of a long road traveled by clinicians, patients, basic scientists, biotech and pharma that led to remarkably effective new antiviral therapies. Despite this, local and global challenges remain in implementing these new treatments and we still lack a prophylactic vaccine against HCV. We also haven’t managed to completely unravel the pathogenic mechanisms by which chronic HCV infection leads to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and cancer, and why the risk of cancer remains even after elimination of the virus. I will briefly describe a new model with the potential to fill these gaps and conclude with a few remarks about the importance of the NIH in this remarkable biomedical success story.
Learning Objectives:
-Provide a history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) discovery
-Review the obstacles encountered with studying this new virus, how they were overcome, and how they led to effective new treatments
-Describe some of the remaining challenges for HCV treatment and prevention
-Appreciate the importance of government supported, curiosity-driven basic research for transformative biomedical advances.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, January 27, 2026