Meet the speakers

Rino Rappuoli is Head of External R&D and Chief Scientist at GSK Vaccines and is based in Siena, Italy. He is also Honorary Professor of Vaccinology at Imperial College, London, and Extraordinary Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Siena. Prior positions held: head of Vaccine R&D at Novartis, CSO at Chiron Corporation, head 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), the Royal Society of London, and the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. 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 765 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.