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Pioneering AIDS researcher Max Essex feted at symposium

Photo by Dominic Chavez

November 27, 2018 – They arrived at Boston’s Colonnade Hotel from as nearby as Cambridge and as far away as Botswana. There were doctors and veterinarians, scientists and a head of state. And they were all there to celebrate trailblazing AIDS researcher Max Essex. On November 9, 2018, Harvard. T.H. Chan School of Public Health along with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health AIDS Initiative, hosted a scientific symposium to…

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The Senegal Sex Workers Study

Sex worker and physician on a street in Dakar

How prostitutes in Dakar contributed to our knowledge of HIV By Martha Henry Phyllis Kanki had thought the S stood for singe, the French word for monkey, but a call to France revealed that the S stood for Senegal—in particular, sex workers in the capital city of Dakar. And that changed everything.

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HAI Founded 30 Years Ago This Month

Headline of Harvard Gazette for May 6, 1988: University Announces AIDS Research Institute

The year was 1988. People were afraid. A total a 106,994 people had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and 62,101 were dead. Scientists were making progress, but there was no effective treatment. One night the evening news would feature protests by AIDS activists demanding faster drug approval. The next night the news featured parents demanding kids with HIV be barred from public schools. On May 6, 1988, Harvard President Derek…

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Botswana Harvard Partnership Excels at AIDS Conference

BHP & HAI Researchers at CROI

In between Nor’easters, the premier gathering for AIDS researchers was held in Boston in early March. The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) brought together top researchers from around the world to share the latest developments in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. The Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) made a strong showing, both with the number of researchers attending and the breadth of studies presented.

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Will Black Panther Inspire Young Africans to Become Scientists?

Shuri, the Black Panther's brilliant scientist sister

When Black Panther opens in China on March 9th, worldwide box office receipts should exceed the $1 billion mark, destroying previous records. The movie, based on the Marvel comic, is set in the fictional African country of Wakanda, ruled by King T’Challa, the Black Panther. His sister, 16-year-old Shuri, loves to tease her older brother. Shuri is funny and daring and the brilliant mastermind behind the high-tech Wakandan Design Group.…

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Spotlight Summer 2017

Spotlight Header

The Interconnected Issue Like it or not, we’re all connected. While officials debate whether to strengthen treaties or build walls, infectious diseases easily cross every border. This issue of Spotlight includes a story about how genetics help us understand the way HIV moves within a community, a story about how migrants may influence HIV prevention efforts, and another on how budget cuts could imperil our response to the next pandemic.…

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Phylogenetic Viral Linkage: A Tool for Evaluating HIV Prevention Efforts

Graphics showing Phylogenetic Viral Linkage

By Martha Henry Major HIV prevention trials are underway in African countries, including Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. These trials involve hundreds of thousands of people and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. But how will we know if they work?

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Are Migrants Driving the Epidemic?

People waiting for the Ferry to Botswana in Kazungula.

By Martha Henry When “Treatment as Prevention” was named Science magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year in 2011, there was optimism that we were closing in on AIDS. Results published from the HPTN 052 trial that year showed that in discordant couples, giving antiretroviral treatment (ART) to people with HIV not only was good for their own health, but also lowered the levels of HIV in their blood to undetectable levels, making the…

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The Talent & Know-How: Dr. Simani Gaseitsiwe Becomes BHP Lab Director

Simani Gaseitsiwe

If a boy from a Botswana village wins second place in the national science fair for a project on optimizing alcoholic brews, predictions about his future could involve his getting into trouble, or working for a large beer company, or, if you’re Dr. Simani Gaseitsiwe, becoming the director of one of Africa’s top research labs.

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Fogarty Under Threat

Pandemic Crisis

By Martha Henry President Donald Trump’s proposed budget calls for eliminating the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Last year, just $69 million of the NIH’s $31 billion budget was allocated to Fogarty. Founded in 1968, the Fogarty Center serves as a bridge between the NIH and the greater global health community by facilitating exchanges among investigators, providing training opportunities, and supporting promising research initiatives in…

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