Mehdi Benlarbi, PhD candidate in Andrés Finzi’s laboratory within the Immunopathology Research Theme, is the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Uta von Schwedler Prize. This prize was established in 2012 in honour of the virologist of the same name, who passed away in 2011. It is awarded annually to a student whose dissertation in retrovirology stands out from among their peers.

“It’s a real honour to receive this prestigious international award,” said Benlarbi. “Very fundamental research is usually recognized, so receiving it for my body of work was a wonderful surprise. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my research director, Andrés Finzi, who instilled this passion for science in me. Without him, I would never have been awarded this prize.”

Benlarbi is from Gatineau and earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Ottawa before beginning an accelerated master’s program in microbiology and immunology at Université de Montréal. He joined Andrés Finzi’s laboratory in 2020 as an intern to work on SARS-CoV-2.

From COVID-19 to retrovirology

Although Benlarbi specialized more in the study of respiratory viruses, he later turned his attention to studying HIV. “I had to adapt everything I knew about SARS-CoV-2 to HIV,” he recalls. “The dynamics were a bit more complicated in this field since there’s already nearly 40 years of literature on the subject.”

Benlarbi is a third-year PhD student in microbiology and immunology in the Department of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the Faculty of Medicine of Université de Montréal, and is studying the role of the soluble HIV gp120 protein in the increased occurrence of comorbidities among people living with HIV, despite receiving antiretroviral therapy. His work demonstrates a link between the presence of this protein and reservoirs in people living with HIV—infected immune cells where the virus remains latent, persisting despite antiretroviral treatment.

His research suggests that targeting soluble HIV gp120 could be a new therapeutic approach to prevent the early onset of comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, in people living with HIV. This hypothesis forms the basis of the RESTART clinical trial, which is currently underway.

“Mehdi’s rigour and passion for research have shed light on a previously poorly understood link between soluble gp120—a true viral toxin—and the comorbidities observed in people living with HIV. I am deeply pleased and extremely proud that he has been awarded the Uta von Schwedler Prize.”

Mehdi Benlarbi is the second Canadian to receive the Uta von Schwedler Prize. The first was Jérémie Prévost in 2020, then a PhD candidate supervised by Andrés Finzi. Congratulations!