Ju-Tao Guo | Vice President, Research Programs, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute;CSO;
Merlin Biotech

Dr. Guo is Senior Vice President for Research and the W. Thomas London Professor at the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute. He has been working on molecular virology and antiviral research of hepatitis viruses, flaviviruses and human coronaviruses for decades. Dr. Guo’s current research efforts are primarily focused on investigation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) cccDNA biology and identification of molecular targets for therapeutic elimination or inactivation of cccDNA to cure chronic hepatitis B. His previous work led to some of the first HBV capsid inhibitor and is co-inventor of MERLIN Biotech’s hepatitis B and liver cancer technologies. Dr. Guo is one of the nation’s leading HBV virologists.

Appearances:

Day 2 - November 29 @ 12:20

mRNA-based Hepatitis Tx development

Ju-Tao Guo, Vice President, Research Programs, Baruch S. Blumberg Institute;CSO;, Merlin Biotech

Day 2 - November 29 @ 16:30

Panel: Toward a Hepatitis B-Free Future: Perspectives on Achieving a Functional Cure

How do you define a functional / partial cure – how should we use these terms and what are their limitations?
Which technologies/ modalities are we using to achieve a functional cure? What are the limits of different approaches? Can they be combined for more therapeutic benefit? (Antivirals, Antibodies, Vaccines, siRNA
Components to an effective cure strategy:

o Use of viral replication inhibitors

o Reducing viral surface antigen load – do we still have room to further reduce load?

o Activation of antiviral immune response
Challenges in balancing side-effects and therapeutic efficacy

How do we manage / avoid resistance