Jocelyn Yelle, M.Sc., Ph.D., is a virologist specializing in Retroviruses and Herpesviruses, with a marked interest in antiviral drug discovery. Born in a small town near Montreal, Canada, he holds an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. degree in Virology from the Armand-Frappier Institute, a Montreal-based research center modeled on the Pasteur Institute in Paris. During his M.Sc. studies, he investigated the role of endogenous Retroviruses in cell transformation in animal models, while his Ph.D. thesis focused on the ability of certain DNA sequences of human cytomegalovirus to immortalize and transform normal cells into cancer cells. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, he explored the ability of tumor suppressor genes to reverse the cancer state in cell culture. He launched his academic career in the early 1990s, investigating HIV’s ability to establish persistent infections in human cell cultures. He then started collaborating with a chemist colleague, mounting a comprehensive, multidisciplinary research program focusing on small molecules as potential drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment. With his colleague, he later launched Pharmacor Inc., a small biopharmaceutical company, to pursue the same goals. Some of these molecules were eventually acquired by Merck & Co. for further development. He is the Founder and President of Antiviral InteliStrat Inc., a consultancy firm that provides scientific advice, analyses of research projects, and counseling, locally and abroad, to biotech/pharma industries and hospital-based organizations. The firm also owns a proprietary database that contains scientific information on antiviral drugs and vaccines, which can be accessed online upon subscription. During his career, he has authored or co-authored over 34 peer-reviewed scientific publications and presented his research and results to national and international scientific meetings. His name also appears on 8 U.S. patents related to experimental drugs for HIV/AIDS. In recent years, Dr. Yelle worked for a 6-month period as senior Consultant for the Global Vaccines Clinical Laboratories vaccine division of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) in Belgium to identify issues affecting optimal day-to-day operations at the GSK sites of Rixensart and Wavre. He also provided his virology expertise as External Reviewer for the Infectious Diseases grant program offered at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Acceptance Letter
