José Esparza

José Esparza is a Venezuelan American virologist who lives in the USA. He is known for his efforts to promote the international development and testing of vaccines against HIV/AIDS. During 17 years (until 1985) he pursued an academic career at the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC), attaining positions as full professor of virology and chairman of its Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology. From 1986 to 2014 he worked continuously as a viral vaccine expert and senior public health adviser for international health policy agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. José G. Esparza is currently an adjunct professor of medicine, at the Institute of Human Virology (University of Maryland School of Medicine). During 2016 he was the president of the Global Virus Network. In the context of historical studies on the early use of horsepox for smallpox vaccination, Esparza was appointed in 2018 as a Robert Koch Fellow at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, Germany. He is an active member of the Latin American Academy of Sciences, ACAL. Provided by Wikipedia