Roberto Bruzzone
MD (Rome, Italy)
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. Roberto was Chair of ISARIC (International Severe Acute Respiratory and emerging Infections Consortium; https://isaric.org) between 2020-2024 and is currently in the Coordination Team of DURABLE (https://durableproject.org) an EU-funded multidisciplinary research network of 20 partners in 15 countries for diagnostics, research, preparedness and response to current and future infectious threats. He serves as Editor-in-Chief at Cell and Molecular Life Sciences, and Deputy Section Editor at Virology Journal. 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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1988-1994 Research Associate, Department of Medicine (1988-1989) & Department of Cell Biology (1989-1994), Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
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1995-1997 Investigator, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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1998-2017 Director of Research, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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2004-2006 Deputy Director, Department of Neuroscience, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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2006-2013 Chief Executive Officer, HKU-Pasteur Research Center, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
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2014-2016 Director, International Teaching and Training Program of Institut Pasteur.
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2016-2017 Chief Executive Officer, Institut Pasteur Korea, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea (March 2016 – April 2017).
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2006-present Visiting Professor, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
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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.
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2017-present Professor, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
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2020-present Co-Director, Centre for Immunology & Infection (C2i), Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, Hong Kong SAR.
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2022-present Visiting Professor, Istituto Pasteur Italia, Rome, Italy.
Appointments & Professional Experience
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1974 Maturità Classica (Baccalaureate) Liceo T. Mamiani, Rome, Italy.
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1980 Doctor of Medicine University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
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1980-1982 Resident, Department of Gastroenterology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
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1982-1988 Postdoctoral Fellow, Institut de Biochimie clinique, Centre Médical Universitaire, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Education & Postdoctoral training
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Bruzzone R, White TW, Paul DL (1996) Connections with connexins: the molecular basis of direct intercellular signaling. Eur J Biochem 238:1-27.
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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.
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Siu YL, Teoh KT, Lo J, Chan C, Kien F, Escriou N, Tsao SW, Nicholls JM, Altmeyer R, Peiris JS, Bruzzone R, Nal B (2008) The M, E and N structural proteins of the SARS coronavirus are required for efficient assembly, trafficking and release of virus-like particles. J Virol 82:11318-11330.​
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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.
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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.
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Fan Y, Sanyal S, Bruzzone R (2018) Breaking bad: How viruses subvert the cell cycle. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 8:396.
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Li MY, Naik TS, Siu LYS, Acuto O, Spooner E, Wang P, Yang X, Lin Y, Bruzzone R, Ashour J, Evans M, Sanyal S (2020) Lyn kinase regulates egress of flaviviruses in autophagosomes-derived organelles. Nat Commun 11:1-16.
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Aquino Y, Bisiaux A, Li Z, O'Neill M, Mendoza-Revilla J, Merkling S, Kerner G, Hasan M, Libri V, Bondet V, Smith N, de Cevins C, Ménager M, Luca F, Pique-Regi R, Barba-Spaeth G, Pietropaoli S, Schwartz O, Leroux-Roels G, Bruzzone R, Abel L, Casanova JL, Valkenburg S, Duffy D, Patin E, Rotival M, Quintana-Murci L (2023) Single-cell architecture of population variation in immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. Nature 621:120-128.
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Liang W, Tan TJC, Wang Y, Lv H, Sun Y, Bruzzone R, Mok CKP, Wu NC (2022) Egg-adaptive mutations of human influenza H3N2 virus are contingent on natural evolution. PLoS Pathog 18:e1010875.​
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Lei R, Liang W, Ouyang WO, Hernandez Garcia A, Kikuchi C, Wang S, McBride R, Tan TJC, Sun Y, Chen C, Graham CS, Rodriguez LA, Shen IR, Choi D, Bruzzone R, Paulson JC, Nair SK, Mok CKP, Wu NC (2024) Epistasis mediates evolution of receptor binding mode in recent human H3N2 hemagglutinin. Nat Commun 15:5175.