Cambridge researcher named to Time 100 list of world’s most influential people

Professor Ravi Gupta has been named today as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the Year, in recognition of his work to bring about the second-ever cure of a patient with HIV.

In 2019, the case of ‘The London Patient’ made global headlines, as 40-year-old Adam Castillejo underwent a bone marrow transplant which both cured him of Hodgkins lymphoma, and eradicated the HIV virus from his system.

In his piece about Gupta for Time, Castillejo said, “Through the years, our partnership has developed and strengthened as Gupta has shared his knowledge and his enthusiasm to find a feasible cure for everyone. He has championed me and empowered me to become an ambassador of hope to millions of people living with HIV around the world…I’m so fortunate and humbled to know him, and to see how his dedication can conquer this disease.”

As Professor of Clinical Microbiology and Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Science at Cambridge, Ravi’s primary research focus is on the increasing problem of drug-resistant HIV, and the potential development of alternative treatments. He is also a Professorial Fellow at Homerton College.

Since March this year, however, his attention has been on COVID-19, and increasing our understanding of the virus which has brought the world to a standstill. Early on, his work to develop rapid testing transformed the ability of hospitals to isolate infected patients. He is now in regular demand as a commentator on our evolving knowledge about how COVID-19 works and what the next stage of its impact might be.

“In the future I want to keep doing COVID-19 research alongside the HIV research,” he said in June 2020. “This is partly because there’ll be plenty to do, and partly because I think there’s lots to learn that could translate to other viruses. The next pandemic may be a related virus, so we really do need to keep plugging away.”