Gail Williams Wertz is a microbiologist, molecular virologist, educator, and professor emerita whose research on the replication and genetic engineering of negative-strand RNA viruses contributed to recombinant respiratory syncytial virus vaccines and vaccine-development methods later applied to other human pathogens. After a long biomedical research career, she pursued graduate work in anthropology and archaeology.
Background
Wertz developed an early interest in biology at the College of William & Mary, where she began her undergraduate studies in 1963 and graduated in 1966. Her scientific career later brought her to university medical schools in North Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia. In 2005, she moved her laboratory and household to Virginia to be closer to her parents, who were experiencing health problems, and she and her husband established a farm near the Rappahannock River. Discoveries of Native American artifacts on the property and in the surrounding region led to a sustained second field of study in anthropology and archaeology.
Education
Wertz earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the College of William & Mary in 1966 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970. Her doctoral training led to a career in molecular virology and biomedical research. After retiring from full-time university research, she returned to William & Mary for graduate study in anthropology and archaeology, completing a Master of Arts degree in 2019 or 2020. This later academic work focused on Native American material culture, lifeways, and cultural preservation.
Career
Wertz began her academic research career at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, where she worked from 1973 to 1987 and developed expertise in the molecular biology of RNA viruses. From 1987 to 2005, she was a professor at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. Her laboratory studied the molecular mechanisms of replication, transcription, assembly, and genetic manipulation of negative-strand RNA viruses, particularly respiratory syncytial virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. The laboratory developed methods for genetically engineering and attenuating RNA viruses, creating a platform for experimental vaccines against major human pathogens and contributing to work subsequently used in the development of an Ebola vaccine. Wertz moved her laboratory to the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 2005 and was elected Professor Emerita in 2014. Across her career she published approximately 155 peer-reviewed papers, received 36 years of continuous National Institutes of Health funding including a MERIT Award, and participated in advisory work for the NIH, CDC, and WHO. Her research produced patents concerning respiratory syncytial virus vaccines, recombinant viral particles, gene-therapy vectors, and the rearrangement and attenuation of negative-strand RNA viruses.
Achievements
Developed methods for genetically engineering and attenuating negative-strand RNA viruses.
Conducted foundational research on the molecular replication, transcription, assembly, and genetic manipulation of respiratory syncytial virus and vesicular stomatitis virus.
Held patents for human respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.
Held patents for gene-therapy vectors and vaccines.
Held patents concerning attenuation of negative-strand ribonucleic acid viruses.
Held patents concerning manipulation and rearrangement of negative-strand ribonucleic acid viruses.
Held patents for recombinant respiratory syncytial viruses.
Held patents for nucleotide sequences encoding bovine respiratory syncytial virus immunogenic proteins.
Held patents concerning prevention and treatment of respiratory tract disease.
Developed a research platform that contributed to the development of experimental vaccines against major human pathogens and was later used in Ebola vaccine development.
Published approximately 155 peer-reviewed scientific papers during her biomedical research career.
(Review article co-authored with Robin M. Moudy on antigen...)
2004
Views
Wertz has expressed the view that a functioning democracy and compassionate civilization depend on an educated citizenry willing to contribute to its community. She has also emphasized the importance of research-based learning and of giving students opportunities to participate in discovery.
Quotations:
"If we are going to have a democracy that functions, if we are going to have a compassionate civilization, then we need an educated citizenry that’s willing to give back to their community."
Membership
Wertz has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a member of the Society for General Microbiology. She served as president of the American Society for Virology in 1995–1996. Her service to the American Society for Microbiology included representation of a divisional group from 1989 to 1991 and participation on the editorial board of the Journal of Virology from 1986 to 2007. She also served on advisory councils associated with the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization. At William & Mary, she joined the Graduate Studies Advisory Board in 2011 and supported graduate education, biology, and conservation programs.
Fellow.
American Academy of Microbiology
,
United States
Fellow or member.
Society for General Microbiology
,
United Kingdom
President.
American Society for Virology
,
United States
1995 - 1996
Divisional group representative; later served on the editorial board of the Journal of Virology from 1986 to 2007.
American Society for Microbiology
,
United States
1989 - 1991
Served on an advisory council.
National Institutes of Health
,
United States
Served on an advisory council.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
,
United States
Served in an advisory capacity.
World Health Organization
,
Switzerland
Board member involved in fundraising, advocacy, graduate education, and support for William & Mary's graduate programs.
William & Mary Graduate Studies Advisory Board
,
United States
2011
Personality
Wertz has described herself as deeply committed to scientific research and as having found sustained intellectual satisfaction in laboratory work, discovery, and collaboration. Her later academic and community activities have likewise been characterized by curiosity, engagement with research, and support for students and educational institutions.
Quotes from others about the person
Wertz has been described by William & Mary colleagues and alumni as a distinguished scientist and educator who combined a major research career in virology with thoughtful participation in anthropology, graduate education, and advocacy for Indigenous cultural rights.
Interests
Anthropology, archaeology, Native American material culture, Indigenous cultural preservation, sustainable agriculture, conservation, and historic rural landscapes.
Politicians
Thomas Jefferson
Connections
Wertz is married to biochemist L. Andrew Ball, with whom she collaborated on research involving negative-strand RNA viruses and recombinant viral systems. Her parents, Elsie and Henry, lived in Virginia's Northern Neck; concern for their health influenced her 2005 move from Alabama to Virginia. Her later work in anthropology was connected to Native American artifacts discovered on the farm she and Ball established near the Rappahannock River.
Father:
Henry
Father of Gail Williams Wertz.
Mother:
Elsie
Mother of Gail Williams Wertz.
Spouse:
L. Andrew Ball
Biochemist and research collaborator; he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin when he met Wertz, and they later collaborated on recombinant negative-strand RNA virus research.
National Institutes of Health MERIT Award,
United States
Recognition associated with long-term, distinguished support for her biomedical research program; she received 36 years of continuous NIH funding.
Recognition associated with long-term, distinguished support for her biomedical research program; she received 36 years of continuous NIH funding.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Infectious Disease Research Award,
United States
Award recognizing contributions to infectious-disease research.
Award recognizing contributions to infectious-disease research.
Channock Lifetime Achievement Award
Lifetime achievement recognition presented at the International RSV Colloquium.
Lifetime achievement recognition presented at the International RSV Colloquium.
William & Mary Alumni Medallion,
United States
The highest honor of the William & Mary Alumni Association, awarded for significant contributions to the university, her profession, community, and nation.
The highest honor of the William & Mary Alumni Association, awarded for significant contributions to the university, her profession, community, and nation.
