Ian Lipkin: The Virus Hunter Who Revolutionized Public Health.

Dr. Ian Lipkin, often dubbed the “virus hunter,” is renowned for identifying more than 2,000 viruses throughout his distinguished career. Currently an experimental pathologist at Columbia University, Lipkin’s path to scientific prominence began unconventionally—with an interest in theater and anthropology. A chance encounter with organic chemistry shifted his trajectory entirely toward medicine and research.

Lipkin’s early clinical experiences shaped his future focus on global public health. During his medical training at Rush University and later at the University of Washington, he worked in remote and underserved communities—from American Indian reservations to rural clinics in Idaho. These roles revealed deep gaps in healthcare delivery and ignited his desire to bridge anthropology and medicine. However, with few outlets for such interdisciplinary goals, he pivoted to neurology and joined the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 1981.

His arrival in San Francisco coincided with the emergence of AIDS. Though the cause of the disease—HIV—was unknown at the time, Lipkin immersed himself in researching immune suppression in patients, exploring experimental treatments like plasmapheresis, which proved beneficial in alleviating symptoms in some cases of AIDS-related neuropathies.

Lipkin's scientific journey truly accelerated during a neurobiology course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where discussions around infectious contributors to brain disorders such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease captivated him. Determined to gain lab skills, he inadvertently landed in Michael Oldstone’s lab at Scripps Research after a mistaken identity phone call. There, Lipkin began investigating Bornavirus, a virus affecting the nervous system, using subtractive cloning—a pioneering approach at the time. His work demonstrated that Bornavirus altered neurotransmitter function in rats and was the first to identify a virus using purely genetic techniques.

In 1999, Lipkin was called upon when an unexplained encephalitis outbreak struck New York. Though initially attributed to St. Louis Encephalitis Virus, Lipkin’s genetic detective work revealed the true culprit: West Nile Virus. This breakthrough further solidified his reputation as a master of pathogen discovery.

By 2001, Lipkin had established his lab at Columbia University. Two years later, during the SARS outbreak in China, he was invited by Chinese health officials to assist in containment efforts. Lipkin developed a real-time PCR test for SARS and personally delivered 10,000 test kits to aid in the response. His commitment extended to developing field protocols for containment and contact tracing.

As technology advanced, so did Lipkin’s tools. He and his team created MassTag PCR—a method combining molecular tags and mass spectrometry—to detect multiple pathogens simultaneously. This method uncovered new viral strains, including rhinovirus type C, and was later adapted to microarray and sequencing platforms.

In 2007, when organ transplant recipients in Australia died from a mysterious illness, Lipkin’s team used next-generation sequencing to identify a novel Arenavirus, marking the first use of such technology in disease diagnosis. These successes opened the floodgates for global collaboration. Lipkin’s lab went on to discover viruses in bats in Bangladesh and Nigeria, salmon in Europe, and humans in South Africa.

Lipkin’s work expanded beyond viruses to neurological disorders. Motivated by personal connections, he co-launched the Autism Birth Cohort using samples from a Norwegian study. His research uncovered links between maternal fever and autism risk. He also investigated chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), identifying immune dysfunction and markers like persistent cytokine levels and potential peroxisomal abnormalities in affected patients.

In 2015, Lipkin's team developed VirCapSeq and later BacCapSeq, two diagnostic platforms capable of identifying viruses, bacteria, and resistance genes. These tools aim to be simplified and automated for global use, especially in low-resource settings.

Lipkin also dedicates time to science communication and mentorship. A consultant for the 2011 film Contagion, he later leveraged those Hollywood connections during the COVID-19 pandemic to promote safety and vaccination messaging. He now directs the Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics, training researchers in over 30 countries.

Despite his accolades, Lipkin remains deeply concerned about waning public and governmental support for science. “If we don’t get that support,” he warns, “everything is going to come to a halt.” He continues to advocate for young researchers and public investment in basic science—ensuring the pipeline of future virus hunters remains open.

Source:https://www.the-scientist.com/the-virus-hunter-who-advancedpublic-health-one-tool-at-a-time-73036

This is non-financial/medical advice and made using AI so could be wrong.