Em. prof. Alexander E. Gorbalenya

Research

Alexander E. Gorbalenya has conducted research since 1972, first as undergraduate on cancer genetics and since 1975 in virology. While conducting PhD project on first RNA virus replicative protease, he pioneered systematic application of comparative genomics to viruses for learning about virus structure, function and evolution. Alexander remains a student of viruses in genome-based research. It transformed development of virus taxonomy and redefined understanding and management of virus-host interactions, notably alphaviruses, arteriviruses, birnaviruses, coronaviruses, flaviviruses, picornaviruses and polyomaviruses. These studies were supported by various national and EU grants. Its results have been published in some 250 papers and book chapters and reported at numerous conferences. He was recognized Highly Cited Researcher (Microbiology, 2021-2025) by Clarivate. His inauguration lecture on June 20, 2011 was entitled Could we live in peace with viruses?, and his farewell lecture on April 30, 2018 was “Why we study viruses”.

Curriculum Vitae

A.E. (Alexander/Sasha) Gorbalenya (1952), PhD, DSci received training in genetics at Novosibirsk State University, Russia, (M.Sc, 1974) and virus biochemistry at the Institute of Poliomyelitis, Moscow and Institute of Molecular Biology, Koltsovo, (Ph.D, 1984), and was awarded D.Sci degree (habilitation) in molecular biology from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia (1991). He was lead research scientist at the Institute of Poliomyelitis before moving to the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, USA, as visiting scientist in 1998. Alexander Gorbalenya joined Leiden University Medical Center (2001), as tenured associate professor and group leader at the Department of Medical Microbiology, where he was Leiden University Fund professor (2009-2017) and served as part-time professor (till 2022). He led Collaborative Program in Bioinformatics between LUMC and Moscow State University (Moscow-Bioinformatics-Leiden, MoBiLe Program; 2005-2019). He served Promotor for 6 PhD students and 14 Master students, many graduated Cum Laude.
Since 2001, Gorbalenya has served the International Committee on the Virus Taxonomy in different capacities, including Vice-President (2011-2017). Since 2000, he has been on the editorial board of leading virology journals, and handled some thousand manuscripts submitted to Virology (Editor on Virus Evolution, 2013-2023), PLOS Pathogens (Section Editor on RNA viruses, 2021-2027) and Viruses (Associate Editor on General Virology, 2024-2027). He was an Editor of the 60th anniversary issue of Virology (2015), Guest Editor of Current Opinion in Virology (first issue on Virus Bioinformatics, 2021), and was among senior editors overseeing the scope expansion of PLOS Pathogens (2024). Alexander organized and chaired many conferences, including Europic2018, the XXth International Meeting on Picornaviruses.