Hepatitis B Researcher To Receive Prestigious Baruch Blumberg Prize

DOYLESTOWN, PA ? The Doylestown-based Hepatitis B Foundation, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating hepatitis B, hepatitis D and liver cancer, announced on Friday that Fabien Zoulim, MD, Ph.D., professor of medicine at Lyon I University and medical director of the Hepatology Department at the Hospices Civils de Lyon, has been chosen to receive the Foundation?s 2026 Baruch S. Blumberg Prize.

?Dr. Zoulim has been one of the world?s leading scientists advancing our understanding of hepatitis B virus persistence and developing strategies to achieve a cure,? said Chari A. Cohen, DrPH, MPH, president of the Hepatitis B Foundation. ?His leadership in research collaborations, such as the ICE-HBV coalition and the ANRS HBV Cure Task Force, has helped accelerate the field and inspired new scientists dedicated to eliminating hepatitis B and hepatitis delta worldwide.?

Dr. Zoulim is among the most widely published scientists in the field of hepatitis B research. He focuses on understanding viral persistence to discover and develop novel treatments to cure chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis D infections.

?I am truly thrilled and honored to receive this prestigious award from the Hepatitis B Foundation,? Dr. Zoulim said. ?Nearly 60 years after Dr. Baruch Blumberg?s discovery of the hepatitis B virus, we are drawing closer to curative regimens for the 254 million people living with chronic hepatitis B.

?For the past 30 years I have been personally involved in the care of chronic hepatitis B patients, Dr. Zoulim added. ?My clinical experience has driven me to focus my research team?s efforts on developing translational programs that probe the molecular and cellular mechanisms of viral persistence, to identify novel biomarkers to predict treatment outcomes and accompany drug development, and to discover therapeutic strategies targeting HBV cccDNA, i.e. the viral mini-chromosome, with the perspective of creating new treatment opportunities with higher cure rates.?

?I am deeply indebted to my mentors and to my colleagues and collaborators, without whom I could not have established these research programs,? Dr. Zoulim said. ?Bridging basic and clinical science will be essential to achieving our goal of curing chronic HBV infection and treating all infected patients worldwide.?

Dr. Zoulim directs the INSERM Unit 1350 PaThLiv "Pathobiology and Therapy of Liver Diseases" and he founded the Lyon Hepatology Institute "IHU EVEREST" in 2023 (Center of Excellence label from the French Government). He co-founded the International Coalition to Eliminate HBV (ICE-HBV) and coordinates the ANRS "HBV cure" program in France. He has served as a governing board member and educational councilor of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, as associate editor of the Journal of Hepatology and currently is an associate editor of Gut, a leading journal.

Dr. Zoulim?s honors include the 2023 Gertrude Elion Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR), the Distinguished Award in HBV Research from the International HBV meeting (2022) and ISAR?s William Prussoff Award. With more than 800 publications, he is among the Most Highly Cited Researchers from the Web of Science Clarivate ranking (2021 and 2024).

Ju-Tao Guo, MD, president and chief scientific officer of the Blumberg Institute, the sister organization of the foundation focused on research, said: ?Dr. Zoulim has been a pioneer in hepatitis B virology and clinical research for over three decades. He has played a key role in the preclinical and clinical development of several novel therapeutics for the management of hepatitis B. His leadership in international organizations such as EASL has been instrumental in advancing the global control of viral hepatitis.?

The Blumberg Prize will be presented to Dr. Zoulim at the 2026 Hepatitis B Foundation Gala, which will be held on April 10 in Warrington.

The Baruch S. Blumberg Prize is the Hepatitis B Foundation?s highest honor. It is named for Baruch S. Blumberg, MD, DPhil, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1976 for discovering the hepatitis B virus. He was instrumental in the creation of the Foundation, served on our Scientific and Medical Advisory Board and was the Foundation?s Distinguished Scholar from 1992 until his death in 2011. The Foundation?s research arm was renamed the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute in his honor.

A committee of former Blumberg Prize recipients annually selects each new honoree. Past recipients include Dr. Harvey Alter, who was among the winners of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology; Dr. Anna Lok, assistant dean for clinical research, University of Michigan Medical School; and Prof. Stephan Urban, inventor of the world?s first and only approved therapy for hepatitis D and head of Translational Virology in the Department of Infectious Diseases, Molecular Virology, at Heidelberg University Hospital.