Christian Brechot Ocala Evening Lecture

Epidemics and pandemics due to infectious agents, be viruses or bacteria, are still a major threat for public health. Following up on the HIV epidemics, we have experienced Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and of course SARS CoV1 and SARS Cov2 (COVID-19). COVID-19 is not completely over, and we know that there will be other epidemics and pandemics (the USA as an example, is experiencing a severe burst of measles). Resistance to antibiotics has also emerged as a major concern.

Microbiomes, these huge populations of bacteria which are present in all of us in the gut, the skin and many tissues have been now well recognized to be major drivers of human health and there is plenty of evidence showing its role in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in cancer and other medical conditions. In addition, the composition of the microbiomes has a very significant impact on the sensitivity to infectious diseases as well as vaccine efficacy. Importantly, it is possible to intervene on these microbiomes through pro-pre-postbiotics as well as transplantation of intestinal microbiota. Some of these molecules not only act on the gut microbiota but show systemic effects (tissue repair, anti-inflammatory) which can offer novel treatments to diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

This lecture will describe how viral infections and microbiomes are entangled and what can be the impact for treating both infectious diseases and chronic diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases.

Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, is Professor in the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine, Senior Associate Dean for Research in Global Affairs, and Associate Vice President for International Partnerships and Innovation in the USF Morsani College of Medicine. He is the former President of the Institut Pasteur and French NIH, as well as Vice-President of the Institut Merieux (a holding of several companies). Since 2017, Dr. Bréchot has also served as President and now vice-chair of the Global Virus Network, a network of 98 research centers worldwide, headquartered at USF. Dr Brechot has entrepreneurial activities, being the founder and chairman of The Healthy Aging Company and the Chief Medical Officer of Theravectys. He is part of 12 patents and members of several boards, including the French American Business Council  of West Florida (FRAMCO). 

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition