Dr Marco Vignuzzi
Director of Research, Institute Pasteur
Marco Vignuzzi studies the molecular and genetic basis driving RNA virus evolution. He obtained a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Paris VII with work at the Institut Pasteur. After a postdoctoral fellowship at UCS he came back to the Institut Pasteur as Group Leader in 2008. His team is focusing on the viral evolution of arboviruses. Global warming induced climate change is a factor in the spread of infectious diseases like Chikungunya. Warmer temperatures have clearly facilitated the spread of viral vectors to temperate climes such as those found in Western Europe. A case in point is the vector of Chikungunya and dengue, the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), which is now present across large swathes of southern Europe. He received the Junior Sanofi-Institut Pasteur award in 2015.
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