Prof. Dr. Erik De Clercq Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Erik De Clercq, M.D., Ph.D. has, for more than 30 years, been teaching the courses of Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Microbiology (Virology) at the Medical School of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) and its Campus in Kortrijk (KULAK). Since 2006, he is an active Emeritus Professor of the K.U.Leuven, and... read morevisiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of South Bohemia, Ceské Budějovice, Czech Republic, where he has been teaching the course of “Biochemistry at the Service of Medicine”. Prof. Dr De Clercq is an honorary doctor of the University of Ghent (Belgium), Athens (Greece), Ferrara (Italy), Shandong (Jinan, China), Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) and Budĕjovice (Czech Republic)]. In 2008, he was elected European Inventor of the Year (Life time achievement award) and in 2010 he received the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. His scientific interests are in the antiviral chemotherapy field, and, in particular, the development of new antiviral agents for various viral infections, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), human papilloma virus (HPV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). He has (co)-discovered a number of antiviral drugs, currently used in the treatment of HSV infections (valaciclovir, Valtrex®, Zelitrex®), VZV infections (brivudin, Zostex®, Brivirac®, Zerpex®), CMV infections (cidofovir, Vistide®), HBV infections (adefovir dipivoxil, Hepsera®), and HIV infections (AIDS) (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, marketed as Viread®, and, in combination with emtricitabine, as Truvada®,, and, in combination with both emtricitabine and efavirenz, as Atripla®). In 2008 Viread® was also approved for the treatment of HBV infections (chronic hepatitis B).