Ravi Gupta

Ravi Gupta is a clinical microbiologist and was one of the six Guest Lecturers for the 2021 CHRISTMAS LECTURES.

Ravi Gupta with his arms crossed, wearing a dark jacket and light shirt, smiling
Credit: Nick Saffell

Ravi Gupta is Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases.

Ravi has worked extensively in HIV drug resistance, both at molecular and population levels, and his work demonstrating escalating global resistance led to change in WHO treatment guidelines for HIV. While at UCL, he led the team demonstrating HIV cure in the ‘London Patient’ – the world’s only living HIV cure, and the second recorded in history.

During the pandemic he has deployed his expertise in RNA virus genetics and biology to report the first genotypic-phenotypic evidence for immune escape of SARS-CoV-2 within an individual, defining the process by which new variants likely arise, and also reporting some of the first data on Pfizer BioNTech vaccine-induced antibody responses against the B.1.1.7 variant that arose in the UK. In addition his group has defined poorer vaccine responses in the elderly, particularly with regard to variants of concern. Most recently Ravi’s work has defined the immune escape and transmissibility advantage of the Delta variant as the driver behind its global expansion.

In 2020 Ravi was named as one of the 100 Most influential people worldwide by TIME Magazine.