Lishan Su, PhD Investiture Program

LISHAN SU, PHD
of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Lishan Su, PhD grew up in Qingdao,
China, and received his BS in Microbiology
from Shandong University, PhD in Virology
from Harvard University, and did postdoctoral
training in Immunology at Stanford
University. Dr. Su then worked as a
research scientist in a biotech company,
focusing on HIV pathogenesis and testing
blood stem cell-based HIV-1 gene therapy
in HIV-infected patients. From 1996 to
2021, he was a faculty member in the
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
and Professor in the Department of
Microbiology & Immunology at University
For over two decades, Dr. Su has focused on studying several critical areas
of immuno-pathology of human chronic virus infections, particularly on
elucidating how HIV causes AIDS-related diseases. The Su laboratory
studies how HIV-1 and HBV interact with human immune cells to cause
diseases. His research team has focused on the plasmacytoid dendritic cell
(pDC)-interferon axis in the pathogenesis and therapy of chronic HIV
infection and Disease-Associated Macrophages (DAM)-hepatic stellate cells
in HBV-induced liver diseases in humanized mice and in patients. The team
has also started investigation of the pathways in tumor microenvironments
(TME) and in cancer immune therapy. After joining The Institute of Human
Virology at UMSOM, Dr. Su continued his research program to use HIV and
HBV viruses as probes to dissect human immunity and inflammatory
diseases, and to develop antibody and cell-based drugs targeting novel
immune cells and signaling pathways to treat human inflammatory diseases
including virus infection and cancer. He has also trained over 40 postdoc/
visiting scholars and 20 graduate students from 8 different countries.
Dr. Su has served on grant review committees for US/European and Chinese
funding agencies for over 20 years, and as associate editor or on editorial
boards of several journals. For the past 20 years, Dr. Su has also interacted
with US and international institutions, including providing advice and to
evaluate progress to biomedical research institutes and centers. He has also
received several awards over the years, including election as a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2012, and the
Charles Gordon Smith Endowed Professorship for HIV Research in 2021.

WELCOME
Mary Pooton
Associate Dean for Development
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD
The James and Carolyn Frenkil Dean’s Professor and Chair,
Department of Pharmacology
Director, Program in Neuroscience
University of Maryland School of Medicine
REMARKS
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore
John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and
Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine
DONOR RECOGNITION
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
SPEAKERS
Robert C. Gallo, MD
The Homer and Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor of Medicine
Co-Founder & Director, Institute of Human Virology (IHV)
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Mike McCune, MD, PhD
Head, HIV Frontiers Initiatives
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Yang Liu, PhD
Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientific Officer
OncoC4 Inc.
Mark Bonyhadi, PhD
Senior Advisor
Qiming Venture Partners USA
MEDAL PRESENTATION
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
REMARKS
Lishan Su, PhD
The Charles Gordon Smith Professor for HIV Research
CLOSING REMARKS
Margaret M. McCarthy, PhD

T
he first endowed professorships were established more than
500 years ago with the creation of the Lady Margaret chairs
in divinity at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The
original endowed chairs were sponsored by Lady Margaret,
countess of Richmond, and grandmother of Henry VIII in 1502.
Subsequently, private individuals began making financial contributions
to establish other endowed professorships and chairs such as the
Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, which Sir Isaac Newton held beginning
in 1669. Professor Stephen Hawking, the internationally renowned
physicist and recipient of the 2010 US Medal of Freedom, was another
prominent holder of this endowed chair.
The honor associated with appointment to an endowed position has
remained unchanged for the last 500 years and is recognized as one of
the highest tributes that an academic institution can bestow upon its
most distinguished faculty. These endowed professorships and chairs
continue to reward exceptional scholars uninterrupted to the present
time.
The Office of Development is charged with securing private gifts to
ensure the School’s tradition of excellence is sustained through robust
research, clinical, and educational programs and initiatives. The
University of Maryland School of Medicine is fortunate to have nearly
85 endowed chairs & professorships in various stages of completion
and held by esteemed faculty members.

CHARLES GORDON SMITH
Charles Gordon Smith of Fort Lauderdale, FL, cemented his own legacy
in the advancement of virological research for years to come, with an
endowed professorship at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s
(UMSOM) Institute of Human Virology (IHV) that now bears his name.
His bequest, partially matched by Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund
(MEIF), created the Charles Gordon Smith Endowed Professorship for HIV
Research.
Smith’s posthumous gift was inspired by a June 2001 appearance on CNN
by IHV director and co-founder Robert C. Gallo, MD, the Homer and
Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine and co-founder and
director of IHV, which highlighted Gallo’s work to detect and treat HIV,
the virus that causes AIDS. The interview sparked Mr. Smith’s growing
interest in Dr. Gallo’s work and eventually, his desire to fund HIV research
through his bequest.
Mr. Smith was a staff accountant at Price Waterhouse and was described by
friends as very scholarly with multiple degrees, an avid reader, and book
collector with multiple interests who researched everything.
“Charlie was a philanthropist and wanted to help so many,” noted a close
friend of Mr. Smith, who requested anonymity. “Dr. Gallo had made an
impact for Charlie, as much as Charlie is now making an impact for Dr.
Gallo.”
The E-Nnovation program was created as an economic stimulus in 2014, as
a special non-lapsing fund designed to help the state’s research universities
recruit and retain top scientists and investigators. Administered by the
Maryland Department of Commerce, MEIF funds combined with private
philanthropy from Mr. Smith’s estate, has allowed the creation of this new
endowed professorship.
UMSOM is very thankful for this bequest from Mr. Smith that has allowed
us to appoint the inaugural Charles Gordon Smith Endowed Professor of
HIV Research.