INSTITUTE OF HUMAN VIROLOGY PARTNERS WITH
MEXICAN UNIVERSITY TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS

Baltimore, MD - UMBI’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Universidad Autonoma of Nuevo Leon (UANL) in Monterrey, Mexico to focus on the fight against HIV/AIDS in Latin America.

UANL will be forming an Institute to conduct basic research, clinical research, training, care and education; located in a new facility on the campus of UANL. The IHV will assist UANL by providing its expertise from having operated a similar Institute for the past 9 years in Baltimore.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, Director of the HIV, Dr. Jennie Hunter-Cevera, President of University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), Ing. José Antonio González Treviño, President, Universidad Autónoma of Nuevo León and Dr. Jesús Ancer Rodríguez, Vice President, Universidad Autónoma of Nuevo León.

(From left to right) Dr. Roberto Trujillo; Dr. Robert Gallo, Director of IHV; Ing. José Antonio González-Treviño, President of the UANL, and Jesús Zacarías-Villarreal, Assessor of the State Government for Medical Services.

“This is a big step in international HIV/AIDS cooperation,” Dr. Gallo said. “The partnership will help to establish a mutually beneficial scientific collaboration between the United States and Latin America.”

According to the United Nations, Latin America has more than 1.7 million people infected with the AIDS virus.

“Because of the AIDS epidemic in Latin America it became necessary to create an infrastructure for better long term control of viral diseases such as AIDS,” said Dr. J Roberto Trujillo, director of Latin America Research in Virology and Neurosciences and Assistant Professor at IHV.

The partnership with UANL is the most recent international effort for IHV. The institute recently developed a partnership with China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has developed a partnership with Nigeria.

IHV is a center of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) and affiliated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine. For more information please visit http://www.umbi.umd.edu.

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Celebrating our 20th anniversary year, UMBI is Maryland's premier biotechnology research institute within the University System of Maryland and was established in 1985. The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) consists of five major research and education centers and is dedicated to advancing the frontiers of biotechnology. UMBI’s centers of research include: CARB, the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology located in Rockville; CBR, the Center for Biosystems Research located in College Park; and COMB, the Center of Marine Biotechnology, MBC, the Medical Biotechnology Center, and IHV, the Institute of Human Virology, all located in Baltimore. For more information, visit www.umbi.umd.edu