Melanie Ott

Melanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and a professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco. She worked with Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen in Heidelberg/Germany and has been recognized for her contributions to HIV Cure research and the pathogenesis of hepatitis C and Zika virus infections. Since January 2020, she has pivoted part of her efforts to SARS-CoV-2 research. This work is focused on infectious SARS-CoV-2 and harnessing the host response for new therapeutics. Her lab also develops rapid diagnostics based on CRISPR and mobile phone technologies.

Melanie is currently advising Gladstone and the University of California San Francisco on their COVID responses and was named one of the most influential women in the Bay Area by the SF Business Times. She is an elected member of the Association of American Physicians and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.