23-77897 Virus Hunter Panel v2

Get to know some of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition scientists who are working hard to help prevent future viral outbreaks.

THE LIFE OF A VIRUS HUNTER

Sunil Solomon, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., M.P.H., is a member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, working to proactively track infectious diseases and prevent them from becoming global outbreaks. Sunil’s work is inspired by his mother.

SUNIL SOLOMON

“My mother and her student identified the first cases of HIV in India in the ’80s. She was a professor of microbiology, and her student was doing her dissertation. That’s where everything started. But I think once she identified those first cases, it almost became sort of a responsibility to her to see it through: ‘I just can’t let it go. What can I do about it?’ So she started a nonprofit organization in Chennai, India, in 1993 with the vision that everybody living with HIV in India should live with respect and dignity across the country.”

SUNIL SOLOMON

“I am hoping to carry on her vision. Most of my work is with vulnerable populations across India, especially in Delhi, and I work very closely with government programs, with inputs from the community, to identify ways to get people tested and help them access treatments and other medical care. Our organization is part of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, so we’re doing research to end pandemics that exist today, in addition to pandemics that may show up years from now.”

SUNIL SOLOMON

“We’ve done a lot of these research programs for India, and the question really is: ‘What does that mean to the communities? How are we impacting the lives of the people who come to us?’ To me, anyone who walks in through our door should walk out with a smile, regardless of who you are, where you’re from and what you do. Because everyone should have access to health. That’s what I learned from my mother, and it’s what I live by.”

SUNIL SOLOMON

As an infectious disease researcher, Gavin Cloherty, Ph.D., oversees the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition to track viruses to try to head off future global outbreaks.

Gavin Cloherty

“Growing up, I thought I would be a zoologist. My sister majored in zoology as an undergraduate in Ireland, and I would sit in lectures on zoology and microbiology and listen. That interest in the natural evolution of animals led me to study microbiology and to where I am today — leading Abbott’s infectious disease research group.”

Gavin Cloherty

“Our scientists and partners are doing the work to understand how viruses are changing. If we find something new, we do the heavy lifting to understand the threat. Because if we’re not proactive, we will relive history.”

Gavin Cloherty

As a member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, Melody Achille works to proactively track infectious diseases and prevent them from becoming global outbreaks.

Melody Achille

“From a young age, I’ve wanted to be a medical doctor. When the cholera epidemic struck Haiti in 2010, I had just graduated from medical school and chose to join the fight against it by treating patients in cholera treatment centers. However, this experience also introduced me to ecological epidemiology and led me to do my thesis on the impact of ecosystems on human health.”

Melody Achille

“What I find important about my work is the possibility to contribute to people’s health at a large scale, and the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition’s virus hunting program takes that contribution to an even greater scale.”

Melody Achille

Dora Mbanya is a member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, working to proactively track infectious diseases and prevent them from becoming global outbreaks.

Dora Mbanya

“I didn’t always know that being a virus hunter would be part of my story. My work focuses a lot on ensuring that safe blood is available for blood transfusion, an important contribution to global health. The work we have carried out over the years with Abbott and now under the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition has been a wonderful eye-opener for us.”

Dora Mbanya

“Only the tip of the iceberg is currently known — especially in the field of infectious diseases. I keep saying, ‘What if this work we are doing could also look for diseases we don’t even know exist?’ We can work as a network and assist each other and be prepared for whatever comes.”

Dora Mbanya

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"My mother and her student identified the first cases of HIV in India in the ’80s. She was a professor of microbiology, and her student was doing her dissertation. That’s where everything started. But, I think once she identified those first cases, it almost became sort of a responsibility to her to see it through: ‘I just can’t let it go. What can I do about it?’ So, she started a non-profit organization in Chennai, India, in 1993, with the vision that everybody living with HIV in India should live with respect and dignity across the country."

SUNIL SOLOMON

Dora Mbanya is a member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, working to proactively track infectious diseases and prevent them from becoming global outbreaks.

Dora Mbanya

MELODY

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Dora Mbanya

sunil

Dora Mbanya

As an infectious disease researcher, Gavin Cloherty, Ph.D., oversees the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition to track viruses to try to head off future global outbreaks.

Gavin Cloherty

MELODY

dora

sunil

“Growing up, I thought I would be a zoologist. My sister majored in zoology as an undergraduate in Ireland and I would sit in lectures on zoology and microbiology and listen.”

Gavin Cloherty

“That interest in the natural evolution of animals led me to study microbiology and to where I am today, leading Abbott’s infectious disease research group.”

Gavin Cloherty

As a member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition, Melody Achille works to proactively track infectious diseases and prevent them from becoming global outbreaks.

Melody Achille

gavin

dora

sunil

“Growing up, I thought I would be a zoologist. My sister majored in zoology as an undergraduate in Ireland and I would sit in lectures on zoology and microbiology and listen.”

Melody Achille

“From a young age I’ve wanted to be a medical doctor. When the cholera epidemic struck Haiti in 2010, I had just graduated from medical school and chose to join the fight against it by treating patients in cholera treatment centers. However, this experience also introduced me to ecological epidemiology and lead me to do my thesis on the impact of ecosystems on human health.”

Melody Achille

Chairman, Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education

Professor of Hematology, University of Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon

Head of Infectious Disease Research, Diagnostics, Abbott Abbott Park, U.S.

Chairman, YRGCARE Chennai, India

Professor of Hematology, University of Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon

Head of Infectious Disease Research, Diagnostics, Abbott Abbott Park, U.S.

M.D., Quisqueya University Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Chairman, YRGCARE Chennai, India

Professor of Hematology, University of Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon

Chairman, Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education

Professor of Hematology, University of Yaoundé I Yaoundé, Cameroon

Head of Infectious Disease Research, Diagnostics, Abbott Abbott Park, U.S.

M.D., Quisqueya University Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Chairman, YRGCARE Chennai, India

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