Cracking the Capsid: Lenacapavir and the Next Chapter in HIV Treatment and Prevention

Each year the recipient(s) of the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize are recognized at a scientific symposium hosted by Harvard Medical School.

2025 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Symposium

The Warren Alpert Foundation and Harvard Medical School invite you to our annual scientific symposium, recognizing three scientists whose discoveries led to lenacapavir — a groundbreaking medication that offers new hope for preventing and treating HIV and accelerating the end of the epidemic.

Tomas Cihlar

Tomas Cihlar | 2025 Recipient

Tomas Cihlar, PhD is a Senior Vice President of Research at Gilead overseeing drug discovery and preclinical research in virology. He joined Gilead three decades ago after obtaining his PhD in biochemistry from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Prague, Czech Republic. Over the years, Dr Cihlar has contributed to the discovery, development and regulatory approval of multiple antiviral products including an extensive portfolio of Gilead’s innovative HIV drugs and their combinations. Together with his colleagues at Gilead he established broad research programs focused on novel long-acting drugs for treatment and prevention of HIV, new approaches for the cure of HIV and viral hepatitis, as well as treatment of respiratory and emerging viral infections. Dr Cihlar played key roles in the discovery and development of lenacapavir, the first long-acting HIV capsid inhibitor, and remdesivir that was approved by US FDA as the first antiviral drug for the treatment of COVID-19. Dr Cihlar is serving on boards of directors of several organizations including the Intrepid Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness, Global Virus Network, and Assembly Biosciences.

John Link

John Link | 2025 Recipient

John O. Link, PhD, was Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry at Gilead Sciences from 2006-2020, where he led a group of research chemists working in antiviral and anti-inflammatory programs.

 

Dr. Link is a co-inventor of four approved drugs discovered in his research group: the curative hepatitis C drugs ledipasvir (NS5A inhibitor), velpatasvir (pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor), and voxilaprevir (pan-genotypic NS3/4A protease inhibitor), which are components in Harvoni®, Epclusa® and Vosevi®, and the HIV capsid inhibitor lenacapavir (Sunlenca®). He was the discovery-stage and Phase 1 development project leader for the ledipasvir and velpatasvir programs and an early research project leader for the lenacapavir program. Harvoni® was the first approved interferon-free regimen to cure the most prevalent HCV genotype. Millions of individuals worldwide have been cured with these HCV medications. Lenacapavir, a new antiviral modality, is the only approved drug targeting a viral capsid. Further, lenacapavir is the only twice-yearly dosed medication for HIV treatment and, if approved, for HIV prevention. Prior to Gilead, Dr. Link was a chemist with increasing leadership roles at Syntex/Roche and Arris/Celera and is presently a Scientific Advisor at Actio Biosciences and SAB member at Terremoto Biosciences. Throughout John’s career he has sought to discover ultrapotent medications with extremely high levels of resilience to metabolism in the liver while fostering a collaborative environment where all voices are heard, and where each chemist and team member is empowered to contribute creatively.

 

John attended public elementary and high-school, received his BA in chemistry from the University of Minnesota, and his PhD in Organic Chemistry working in the laboratory of Professor EJ Corey at Harvard University where they co-discovered the Corey-Link Reaction.

Dr. Link was awarded the American Chemical Society’s 2015 Heroes of Chemistry for his contributions to the discovery of Harvoni®, the 2017 inaugural Male Ally Award from the Women at Gilead employee resource group, and the Chinese American Biopharmaceutical Society’s 2021 K. Fong Award in Life Sciences and is an author on over 30 publications and an inventor on over 70 patents.

Wesley Sundquist

Wesley Sundquist | 2025 Recipient

Wes Sundquist is the Samuels Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. He received a BA in chemistry from Carleton College, a PhD in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and did postdoctoral research with Sir Aaron Klug at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. His research interests stem from the lab’s work on HIV assembly and replication. He and his collaborators defined the architecture and functions of the HIV capsid and demonstrated that the capsid could be a druggable target, supporting the development of Lenacapavir by Gilead Sciences. His lab also studies the virology, biochemistry and cell biology of the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) pathway, and they showed that HIV usurps this host pathway to bud from cells. His awards and honors include the Horwitz Prize for Biochemistry (Columbia University), the TIME100 2025 list of most influential people, the Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Prize (Science Magazine), and the World Laureate Association Prize for Life Sciences (WLA Foundation). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. Wes and his wife Nola have two adult children, Chris and Nola.

Symposium Program

Each year the recipient(s) of the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize are recognized at a scientific symposium hosted by Harvard Medical School.

Opening Remarks

George Q. Daley, MD, PhD

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University, Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine

Bruce Walker, MD

Director, Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard

Award Lectures

Tomas Cihlar, PhD

Senior Vice President of Research, Gilead Sciences

John Link, PhD

Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry, Gilead Sciences (Retd.) Scientific Advisor, Actio Biosciences SAB member, Terremoto Biosciences

Wesley Sundquist, PhD

Professor and Chair of Biochemistry, University of Utah

Invited Speakers

Linda-Gail Bekker, MD, PhD

Professor and Director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, University of Cape Town and Chief Executive Officer of the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, South Africa

Conversation with Bill Gates

Chair, Gates Foundation, and Founder, Breakthrough Energy and TerraPower, interviewed by Bruce Walker, MD (by video recording)

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Past Symposia

For questions about the prize, please contact us.

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I am honored to receive this award in recognition of our seminal work published in Nature in 2011 and in Science in 2012, including the discovery of tracrRNA and the delineation of its key role in the targeting and editing of DNA by CRISPR-Cas9. This work is a wonderful example of the importance of basic research, demonstrating its relevance for translational science and important medical applications.
- Emmanuelle Charpentier

Emmanuelle Charpentier | 2016 Recipient

Emmanuelle Charpentier studied biochemistry, microbiology and genetics at the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France and obtained her PhD in Microbiology for her research performed at the Pasteur Institute. She then continued her work in the United States, at The Rockefeller University, New York University Langone Medical Center and the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine (all in New York, NY) and at St Jude Children's Research Hospital (in Memphis, TN). E. Charpentier returned to Europe to establish her own research group at the Max F. Perutz Laboratories of the University of Vienna in Austria where she habilitated in the field of Microbiology. She was then appointed Associate Professor at the Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS, part of Nordic European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Partnership for Molecular Medicine) at Umeå University in Sweden where she habilitated in the field of Medical Microbiology and is still active as a Visiting Professor. Between 2013 and 2015, E. Charpentier was Head of the Department of Regulation in Infection Biology at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, and Professor at the Medical School of Hannover in Germany. In 2013, she was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, which she has held since 2014. In 2015, E. Charpentier was appointed Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society in Germany and Director at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany.

E. Charpentier is recognized as a world-leading expert in regulatory mechanisms underlying processes of infection and immunity in bacterial pathogens. Her work has led to a number of seminal discoveries and insights into pathways governing antibiotic resistance and virulence of bacterial pathogens. With her recent groundbreaking findings in the field of RNA-mediated regulation based on the CRISPR-Cas9 system, E. Charpentier has laid the foundation for the development of a novel, highly versatile and specific genome editing technology that is revolutionizing life sciences research and could open up whole new opportunities in biomedical gene therapies. The resulting field of research is now developing at dazzling speed, with exciting new aspects emerging almost weekly. E. Charpentier is Elected Foreign Member of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2015, Elected Member German National Academy of Sciences 2015, Elected Member of the European Academy of Microbiology 2015, Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2015 and Elected EMBO Member in 2014. E. Charpentier has been awarded prestigious honors including the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 2016, French Chevalier Order de la Légion d’Honneur in 2016, World Technology Award for Biotechnology 2015, Leibniz Prize 2016, a 2016 Vallee Visiting Professorship, the 2016 HFSP Nakasone Award, an Honorary Doctorate of the KU Leuven, the Science Award of Lower Saxony 2015, the ABRF Annual Award for Outstanding Contributions to Biomolecular Technologies 2016, the Massry Prize 2015, the Otto Warburg Medal 2016, the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award 2016, the Carus-Medal of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2015, the Umeå University EC Jubilee Award in 2015, the Gruber Prize in Genetics 2015, the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research 2015, the 11th International Society for Transgenic Technologies Prize, the Hansen Family Award 2015, the 2015 Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine, the 2015 Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the 2014 Grand Prix Jean-Pierre LeCocq, the 2014 Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine, the 2014 Dr Paul Janssen Award, the 2014 Göran Gustafsson Prize, an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in 2013 and the Eric K. Fernström Prize in 2011. The impact of her scientific accomplishments has also been recognized in the broader community of world affairs. E. Charpentier was selected as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2015, one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2014, one of Vanity Fair’s 50 most influential French people worldwide in 2014.

E. Charpentier is inventor and co-owner of seminal intellectual property comprising the CRISPR-Cas9 technology, and co-founder of CRISPR Therapeutics and ERS Genomics, created to facilitate the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering technology for biotechnological and biomedical purposes.

(2016-03-06) picture: “Hallbauer&Fioretti”

 View Past Recipients