The Young Society for Virology (jGfV, Junge Gesellschaft für Virologie) is the early-career arm of the German Society for Virology, bringing together students, doctoral researchers and postdocs in a dedicated network for young scientists. Within this framework, the jGfV recognizes outstanding scientific achievements by awarding seasonal prizes for exceptional publications by junior virologists. In the winter season 2025, this distinction went to Dr. Chiara Pastorio, a member of CRC 1279 in the Molecular Virology group, honouring her recent work on the vitamin A carrier RBP4 as endogenous activator of latent HIV-1. Her awarded paper, Retinol Binding Protein 4 reactivates latent HIV-1 by triggering canonical NF-κB, JAK/STAT5 and JNK signalling, was recently published  in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, and builds on a broad international collaboration.

In this study, Dr. Pastorio and colleagues from Germany, the USA and Austria demonstrated that Retinol Binding Protein 4 (RBP4), the main transporter of vitamin A in the bloodstream, can induce reactivation of latent HIV-1 in human T cells. These findings are particularly relevant in the context of current antiretroviral therapy, which efficiently suppresses viral replication but leaves behind a reservoir of long-lived resting CD4⁺ T cells carrying transcriptionally silent, yet intact, proviruses. The identification of RBP4 as an effective natural trigger of viral reactivation allows to better understand the mechanisms underlying viral rebound and offers new perspectives to target the latent HIV reservoirs. In addition to this recognition by the jGfV, Dr. Pastorio was also recently honoured with the Jutta and Wilfried Trumpp Foundation Prize from the International Graduate School in Molecular Medicine Ulm for this work and her research on SARS-CoV-2, underlining the sustained excellence and impact of her scientific contributions.