Twenty Years of HIV/AIDS Research Commemorated

"Twenty Years of HIV/AIDS Research: Looking Back and Moving Forward" was the theme of a commemorative program hosted by the Cornell Clinical Trials Unit (CCTU), in conjunction with Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), at a reception held last April. The event was held in the Cornell Clinical Trials Unit and the Center for Special Studies (CSS, the HIV primary care clinic) at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center. 

From left: Dr. Roy ("Trip") Gulick, director of the Cornell Clinical Trials Unit; Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College; and Dr. Marshall Glesby, associate director of the CCTU.

Speakers included Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of the Medical College; Ana Oliveira, executive director of GMHC, who spoke about the relationship between GMHC and the CCTU; and Dr. Roy ("Trip") Gulick, director of the CCTU and associate professor of medicine, who spoke about the collaboration between GMHC, CSS and the CCTU. Dr. Gulick also spoke about the work that has been done over the past 20 years both in the Unit and around the world, and the work that continues to be done in the Unit in hope of winning the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Since its establishment 16 years ago, the CCTU has been at the forefront of important discoveries in the field of HIV/AIDS treatment—including development of the current combination treatments ("HIV cocktails") that have led to a substantial reduction in the death rate from AIDS both in New York and nationally.

Current work in the CCTU includes studies of an HIV vaccine, drugs that work new ways (e.g., HIV entry inhibitors, HIV integrase inhibitors), drugs that help treat complications of the disease and the treatments, and drugs for patients co-infected with hepatitis C virus.