David D. Ho, MD 1978
-Scientific Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
-Irene Diamond Professor, The Rockefeller University
Research:
Dr. Ho has been actively engaged in AIDS research for more than 20 years.
Career Highlights:
Dr. Ho received his degrees from California Institute of Technology (1974), and Harvard Medical School and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Subsequently, he did his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at UCLA School of Medicine (1978-1982), and Massachusetts General Hospital (1982-1985), respectively.
Among an impressive list of seminal contributions in the fields of AIDS research, Dr. Ho is perhaps most recognized for the elucidation of the dynamic nature of HIV replication in infected persons. This basic understanding led Dr. Ho and his coworkers to champion combination antiretroviral therapy, including the use of protease inhibitors, that has resulted in dramatic reductions in AIDS-associated mortality in developed countries since 1996. Dr. Ho continues to pursue therapeutic studies that attempt to eradicate HIV. In addition, his research team is now devoting considerable effort to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of the AIDS epidemic. Dr. Ho is now heading up a consortium of Chinese and American organizations to address the crisis of HIV/AIDS in China.
Dr. Ho has received numerous honors and awards for his scientific accomplishments. He was named Time magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1996, and was the recipient of a Presidential Medal in 2001.