The Learned (Renwen) Society at China
Institute presents a lecture by Dr. David D.
Ho, the world-renowned AIDS researcher on
January 26, 2008, 2-4 pm. The event is
co-sponsored by the Greater China Initiative at
the Business School of Columbia University
and the Asia-Pacific Development Society of
Columbia University.
In this video-illustrated
lecture entitled The Story of AIDS, Dr. Ho will discuss the origin and
the spread of AIDS, its current status in
the world as a whole, in the U.S. and China
in particular, remedies, current research
and prospects.
Dr. David Ho, M.D. is the
founding Scientific Director and Chief
Executive Officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS
Research Center, a world-renowned biomedical
research institute. He is also the Irene
Diamond Professor at The Rockefeller
University.
Dr. Ho received his degrees
from California Institute of Technology
(1974) and Harvard Medical School (1978).
Subsequently, he did his clinical training
in internal medicine and infectious diseases
at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/UCLA School
of Medicine (1978-1982) and Massachusetts
General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
(1982-1985), respectively.
Dr. David Ho has been at the
forefront of AIDS research for 26 years,
publishing over 350 papers. His elegant
studies, beginning in 1994, unveiled the
dynamic nature of HIV replication in vivo
and revolutionized our basic understanding
of this horrific disease (Nature 1995;
Science 1996). This knowledge led Dr. Ho to
champion combination antiretroviral therapy
(N. Engl. J. Med. 1995; Science 1996) that
resulted in unprecedented control of HIV in
patients (Nature 1997). AIDS mortality in
richer nations has declined 6-fold since
1996, and a massive international effort is
now underway to bring such life-saving
treatment to millions in the developing
world. Dr. Ho has been the major driving
force behind this major medical breakthrough
in what is arguably the worst plague in
human history.
Dr. Ho’s research team is now
devoting considerable efforts to develop
vaccines to halt the spread of the AIDS
epidemic. Furthermore, he is now heading up
a consortium of Chinese and American
organizations to help address the crisis of
HIV/AIDS in China.
Dr. Ho has received numerous
honors and awards for his scientific
accomplishments. He is the recipient of
nine honorary doctorates (including from
Swarthmore, Tufts, Columbia, Tulane,
University of Natal, and Tsinghua
University). He has been chosen as the
commencement speaker at Caltech, MIT, and
Harvard School of Public Health. Additional
accolades include the Ernst Jung Prize in
Medicine, Mayor’s Award for Excellence in
Science & Technology, the Squibb Award, and
the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award. Dr. Ho
has been elected as a member of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia
Sinica (Republic of China), Chinese Academy
of Engineering, and the Institute of
Medicine, National Academy of Science in the
United States. He was recently inducted
into the California Hall of Fame.
Dr. Ho is also an honorary
professor at Peking Union Medical College,
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, University of Hong
Kong, Wuhan
University, and Fudan University. He was a
member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard
University and the Board of Trustees of the
California Institute of Technology. He is a
board member of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Corporation.
Dr. Ho was named Time
Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1996, and was
the recipient of a Presidential Medal in
2001.
Dr. Ho will give the lecture
in English.
