Dr. David Ho
Biography
 Dr. David Ho was born on the island of Taiwan in 1952. After studying physics at both MIT and Cal Tech, Ho decided on molecular biology and accepted a scholarship to Harvard Medical School. It was during his residency at UCLA Medical that he began his work on AIDS. Dr. Ho has made many influential and groundbreaking contributions to the fight against AIDS, but is perhaps most recognized for discovery of the complicated nature of HIV replication in infected persons. Before Dr. Ho found otherwise, the common understanding of the disease was that it entered a dormant phase immediately after the initial infection based on the fact that most patients weren't ill for month or even years after their first exposure. Through extensive research, Dr. Ho proved that the virus actually multiplies in vast numbers from the very beginning, and the immune system exhausts itself fighting the virus. Because of this discovery, Dr. Ho was able to change the process of AIDS treatment by shifting the focus away from treatment during the final, losing months of the disease and directing efforts at fighting the virus in initial stages of the infection. He then created "cocktails" of protease inhibitors and other antiviral drugs that have, in many cases, produced astounding recoveries. At age 37, Dr. Ho was appointed Director of the new Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City. Because of his breakthrough in AIDS research Time Magazine named him Man of the Year in 1996. He also received the Squibb Award, the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award, the Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science & Technology. Dr. Ho has been elected to the Academia Sinica (Republic of China), as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Academy of Science. Having served as a pioneer in the fight against AIDS for over 20 years, Dr. David Ho hopes that the continued use of his therapies may eliminate the virus in people already affected. He also continues to search for a vaccine which will eliminate the threat of AIDS altogether. May it be so.
Quotations
"This is a problem for the world and therefore we are going to solve it."
References
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