Dr. Qinxue Hu is currently a full professor at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his BSc from Hunan Normal University in 1987, his MSc from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1990, and his PhD from the University of London in 2003. He worked on viral pathogens at the Wuhan Institute of Virology from 1990 to 1997 and on HIV-1 at the University of Louisville in the USA from 1997 to 2000. He was at St George’s, University of London (SGUL) from 2000 to 2008, studying HIV-1 mucosal infection, and coordinated research work on HIV-1 transmission and prevention at both WIV and SGUL from 2008 to 2023, initiated by the Hotung China-UK Joint Program. Dr. Hu has a long-standing interest in understanding how sexually transmitted viruses HIV-1 and HSV-2 interact with mucosal surfaces. His findings are being used in a translational manner to design vaccine and microbicide candidates. He is also interested in elucidating the early infection mechanisms of emerging and re-emerging viruses, including human norovirus, the leading cause of gastroenteritis, with the aim of developing cost-effective vaccines accessible to low- and middle-income countries.
