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Work on HIV Prevention Called Major ‘Breakthrough’
An HIV prevention research study led by Professor Myron S. Cohen has been named the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal
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Science.
■ Difficulty retaining faculty has cost
UNC millions in research
grant income.
ONLINE:
The study evaluated whether antiretroviral drugs can prevent sexual transmission
of HIV among couples in which one partner has HIV and the other does not. The
research found that early treatment with
antiretroviral therapy reduced HIV transmission in couples by at least 96 percent.
in the mid-1990s, our UNC team of virol-ogists, pharmacologists and physicians has
been working on the idea that antiretrovirals might make people less contagious,”
said Cohen, who is a Distinguished Professor of medicine, microbiology and epidemiology at UNC. “By 2000, the UNC
study team thought the idea was strong
enough to try to prove it.”
■ UNC is 10th in Fulbright awards
with 18 student recipients, up three from
2010.
It would be another five years before
researchers started enrolling people in the
study, eventually involving nearly 2,000
couples at 13 sites in nine countries.
■ African and Afro-American studies
has a new chair; independent study faces
review.
The editors at Science, published by the
American Academy for the Advancement
of Science, said: “In combination with
other promising clinical trials, the results
have galvanized efforts to end the world’s
AIDS epidemic in a way that would been
inconceivable even a year ago. ‘The goal
of an AIDS-free generation is ambitious,
but it is possible,’ U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton told scientists last month.”
In May, four years before the study’s
scheduled completion, outside monitors
asked that the results be released immediately because they were so positive. Since
then, the results have been reverberating
throughout the policy community.
■ Laurence Lovette receives life without
parole in the death of Eve Carson ’08.
■ Public health’s dean has been asked to
chair the President’s Cancer Panel.
The study is proof of a concept more
than 20 years in the making. “From the
time the first AIDS drugs were developed
“While I am obviously thrilled to have
this research recognized as the Science
breakthrough of the year,” Cohen said,
“witnessing the translation of this scientific discovery on a global scale truly is the
best reward.”
four with Davie Awards.
■ Kiplinger’s Personal
Finance again picks UNC
as the best value in public
higher education.
■ Trustees honor
Yearbooks hold a lot of memories.
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