Herpes & HIV: Not What You Think

By Martha Henry It is always a shock to find out that what you had assumed was true simply is not. That is why clinical trials are so important to science. The unexpected results of a recent trial examining herpes and HIV demonstrates the importance of carrying out controlled trials to test preconceived beliefs.

Best Practices in HIV/AIDS Programs

Dr. Richard Marlink, Executive Director of the Harvard AIDS Initiative, is the Executive Editor of the recently published From the Ground Up: Building Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Care Programs in Resource-Limited Settings. This three-volume collection of best practices and lessons includes contributions from over 320 distinguished HIV/AIDS professionals from around the globe, with a special focus on sub-Saharan Africa. The book is being offered free-of-charge so that it will reach the widest…

Research Opportunities for Undergrads

Not many undergraduates have the opportunity to conduct their own laboratory research projects. Harvard students who spend a semester abroad at the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP) are a rare exception. Last year, Carlos Becerril, a pre-med social anthropology major, researched drug resistance among antiretroviral-naïve patients with recent HIV infection in Botswana.

Profile: Rebeca Plank

By Martha Henry If it hadn’t been for public health, Rebeca Plank might not have been conceived. Her parents met at a medical conference in the late 1960s. Her father, Stephen Plank, a physician from the U.S., did his medical residency in the Panama Canal Zone. While there, he was dismayed to discover that he had to send people out from the hospital to the same conditions that had brought…

Interview with Rebeca Plank

Dr. Rebeca Plank is the Principal Investigator of a new clinical trial, Infant Male Circumcision in Gaborone, Botswana, and Surrounding Areas: Feasibility, Safety and Acceptability. Plank is an Infectious Disease and HIV specialist who trained at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She recently spoke with Martha Henry, Editor of Spotlight

President Faust Visits BHP: Slideshow