Patrick Arbuthnot is currently personal professor and director of the Wits/SAMRC Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU). After graduating with a medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Patrick Arbuthnot completed a PhD in 1992. From 1993 to 1994, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Necker Hospital in Paris and investigated development of gene therapy to treat liver cancer and chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). On returning to South Africa, Patrick Arbuthnot established the Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, which was the first in the country to carry out research on the emerging field of gene therapy. The group has published widely on developing new gene therapy-based methods to counter HBV infection, liver cancer and HIV-1 infection. The rational design principles that underlie advancing gene therapy are appealing attributes that make the technology suitable to advancing management of previously untreatable diseases that are of importance to South Africa. Recent licensing of gene therapy drugs in the US and Europe heralds an important transition of gene therapy from frontier technology to what will soon become the mainstream of drug development.

Patrick Arbuthnot’s interest in developing gene therapy for chronic HBV infection is based on the significant global health problem that the virus poses, inadequacy of currently licensed drugs and suitability of gene therapy for HBV infection. Globally approximately 800,000 people die each year as a result of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma that complicates the chronic infection. With the aim of preventing these serious consequences that are particularly important in sub-Saharan Africa, the Wits/SAMRC AGTRU focuses on using gene editing to mutate viral DNA sequences and gene silencing to inhibit viral replication.  Gene editing technology is particularly attractive as the approach potentially provides the means to inactivate HBV permanently, and thereby achieve cure from the infection. On the strength of his leading position in HBV gene therapy, Patrick is a member of the International Coalition for the Elimination of HBV infection (ICE-HBV). He has set up several strategic collaborations with academia and industry to develop academic research, human capacity and generate valuable intellectual property.

Unit Director: Prof Patrick Arbuthnot
1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000,
Johannesburg, South Africa
Tel office: 011 717 2365
Email: patrick.arbuthnot@wits.ac.za