Rate My Professor Susana Valente

Susana Valente is Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, where she also holds joint appointments in the Cell-Based Screening Core and Graduate Program. She earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology-Virology from the University of Paris Diderot (Paris VII) in 2002, Master of Science in Biotechnology from De Montfort University in 1998, Master of Science in Maîtrise Biochemistry from the University of Paris Diderot (Paris VII) in 1997, and Bachelor of Science in Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology from the New University of Lisbon in 1996. Valente's academic career began with postdoctoral fellowships, including the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmfAR) Postdoctoral Fellowship (2005-2007) and Portuguese Ministry of Education PRAXIS XXI Postdoctoral Fellowship (2007-2008). In 2009, she joined The Scripps Research Institute Florida as Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases, later transitioning to Immunology and Microbial Science, advancing to Associate Professor in 2013 and full Professor in 2022. She became Department Chair in August 2022 and co-founded Thimble Therapeutics in 2019 to advance HIV transcriptional inhibitors to clinical use.

The research in the Valente Lab centers on molecular interactions within host cells critical for HIV-1 replication, with a focus on viral latency mechanisms in CD4+ T memory cells and development of therapeutics to inhibit replication, particularly the 'block-and-lock' strategy for a functional cure. This approach aims to permanently silence the latent HIV reservoir using Tat inhibitors like didehydro-Cortistatin A (dCA). Her contributions include identifying host factors such as the chaperone protein p32, which stabilizes HIV-1 Tat to promote transcription elongation, and FUBP3, which enhances Tat-TAR interactions. Valente has received the Landenberger Foundation Award (2010-2012), NIAID Research Scholar Development Award (K22, 2009-2011), and Portuguese Ministry of Education PRAXIS XXI Ph.D. scholarship (1998-2002). Key publications include 'Silencing the transcriptionally active HIV reservoir to improve treatment outcomes' (Nature Microbiology, 2024), 'The chaperone protein p32 stabilizes HIV-1 Tat and strengthens the p-TEFb/RNAPII/TAR complex promoting HIV transcription elongation' (PNAS, 2023), 'In Vivo Suppression of HIV Rebound by Didehydro-Cortistatin A' (Cell Reports, 2017), 'Key Players in HIV-1 Transcriptional Regulation: Targets for a Functional Cure' (Viruses, 2020), and 'The block-and-lock strategy for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Cure: Lessons Learned from didehydro-Cortistatin A' (Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2021). Her work has advanced strategies to overcome antiretroviral therapy limitations and combat drug-resistant HIV variants, influencing the field toward HIV remission.