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Roberto Bruzzone
MD (Rome, Italy)

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Co-Director

Visiting Professor
Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences

Contact Information
Tel: +852 2831 5522
Email: bruzzone@hku.hk
Address: 7/F Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research, 5 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong

Profile & Research

Roberto Bruzzone was born in Italy and studied medicine at the University “La Sapienza” in Rome.  After postdoctoral work at the University of Geneva and Harvard Medical School, he joined in 1995 the Institut Pasteur, where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Infection.  

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Roberto is a cell biologist recognized for his work on direct cell-cell communication through connexins and their associated human diseases.  In 2006, he moved to the University of Hong Kong, where he is the Co-Director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, with a joint appointment as Visiting Professor in the Li Ka Shi Faculty of Medicine.  Since coming to Hong Kong his research has focused on host-pathogen interactions.  He has been decorated as Knight of the Order of Merit (Italy) and Officer of the National Order of Merit (France).

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> HKU Scholars Hub: Roberto Bruzzone

  • 1988-1994 Research Associate, Department of Medicine (1988-1989) & Department of Cell Biology (1989-1994), Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

  • 1995-1997 Investigator, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

  • 1998-2017 Director of Research, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

  • 2004-2006 Deputy Director, Department of Neuroscience, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

  • 2006-2013 Chief Executive Officer, HKU-Pasteur Research Center, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.

  • 2014-2016 Director, International Teaching and Training Program of Institut Pasteur.

  • 2016-2017 Chief Executive Officer, Institut Pasteur Korea, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea (March 2016 – April 2017).

  • 2006-present Visiting Professor, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.

  • 2013-present Co-Director, HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.

  • 2017-present Professor, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Appointments & Professional Experience

  • 1974 Maturità Classica (Baccalaureate) Liceo T. Mamiani, Rome, Italy.

  • 1980 Doctor of Medicine University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.

  • 1980-1982 Resident, Department of Gastroenterology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.

  • 1982-1988 Postdoctoral Fellow, Institut de Biochimie clinique, Centre Médical Universitaire, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Education & Postdoctoral training

  • Bruzzone R, White TW, Paul DL (1996) Connections with connexins: the molecular basis of direct intercellular signaling.  Eur J Biochem 238:1-27.
     

  • Baulac S, Huberfeld G, Gourfinkel-An I, Mitropoulou G, Beranger A, Prud’homme JF, Baulac M, Brice A, Bruzzone R, LeGuern E (2001) First genetic evidence of GABAA receptor implication in epilepsy: a mutation in the 2 subunit gene (GABRG2).  Nat Genet 28:46-48.
     

  • Bruzzone R, Hormuzdi SG, Barbe MT, Herb A, Monyer H (2003) Pannexins, a family of gap junction proteins expressed in brain.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:13644-13649.
     

  • Jaume M, Yip MS, Cheung CY, Leung HL, Li PH, Kien F, Dutry I, Escriou N, Altmeyer R, Nal B, Daëron M, Bruzzone R, Peiris JS (2011) Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike antibodies trigger infection of human immune cells via a pH- and cysteine protease-independent FcR pathway.  J Virol 85:10582-10597.
     

  • Kudelko M, Brault JP, Kwok K, Li MY, Pardigon N, Peiris JS, Bruzzone R, Desprès P, Nal B Wang PG (2012) Class II ADP-ribosylation factors are required for efficient egress of dengue viruses.  J Biol Chem 287:767-777.
     

  • Tang DJ, Lam, YM, Siu YL, Lam CH, Chu SL, Peiris JS, Buchy P, Nal B, Bruzzone R (2012) A single amino acid substitution in the 130-loop of the receptor-binding domain of H5N1 hemagglutinin is critical for efficient packaging into pseudotyped lentiviral particles.  PLoS One 7:e43596.
     

  • Adebamowo C, Bah-Sow O, Binka F, Bruzzone R, Caplan A, Delfraissy JF, Heymann D, Horby P, Kaleebu P, Muyembe Tamfum JJ, Olliaro P, Piot P, Tejan-Cole A, Tomori O, Toure A, Torreele E, Whitehead J (2014) Randomised controlled trials for Ebola: practical and ethical issues.  Lancet 384:1423-1424.
     

  • Li MY, Grandadam M, Kwok K, Lagache T, Siu YL, Zhang JS, Sayteng K, Kudelko M, Qin CF, Olivo-Marin JC, Bruzzone R, Wang PG (2015) KDEL receptors assist dengue virus exit from the endoplasmic reticulum.  Cell Rep 10:1496-1507.
     

  • Taylor A, Foo SS, Bruzzone R, Vu LD, King NJ, Mahalingam S (2015) Fc receptors in antibody-dependent enhancement of viral infection.  Immunol Rev 268:340-364.
     

  • Jahan AS, Lestra M, Swee LK, Fan Y, Lamers MM, Tafesse FG, Theile CS, Spooner E, Bruzzone R, Ploegh HL, Sanyal S (2016) Usp12 stabilizes the T cell receptor complex at the cell surface during signaling.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 113:E705-E714.
     

  • Fan Y, Mok CK, Zhang Y, Nal B, Kien F, Bruzzone R, Sanyal S (2017) Cell cycle independent role of cyclin D3 in host restriction of Influenza virus infection.  J Biol Chem 292:5070-5088.
     

  • Fan Y, Sanyal S, Bruzzone R (2018) Breaking bad: How viruses subvert the cell cycle.  Front Cell Infect Microbiol 8:396.

Publcations RB
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