Giuseppe Balistreri MS, PhD

Dr. Giuseppe Balistreri obtained a master’s degree in molecular biology and microbiology from the University of Palermo, Italy. After moving to Finland, he obtained a Ph.D. in Molecular Virology from the University of Helsinki, focusing on virus replication and virus-induced host membrane rearrangements, in the team led by Professor Leevi Kääriäinen. His research on viruses, particularly virus entry, continued in the research group of Professor Ari Helenius at the ETH Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, where Dr. Balistreri developed novel image-based screening approaches working on multiple human viruses. After a short excursion into oncogenic herpesviruses, Dr. Balistreri became a principal investigator at the University of Helsinki where he currently works, focusing on the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and spreading and on the development of novel antiviral therapies and improved vaccines. Since 2020, Dr. Balistreri is also an adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia where he studies how viruses infect and spread in neurons.