June 16, 2006

Twenty-five years of HIV/AIDS progress and challenges

The MGH has been at the forefront of clinical care and research in HIV/AIDS since the first cases in the United States were initially described in June 1985. Since then, MGH researchers and clinicians have made major advances in the understanding of the disease, including breakthroughs in providing effective treatment for HIV/AIDS. MGH doctors and nurses have provided skilled and compassionate care for thousands of patients suffering from the complications of AIDS, and MGH social workers have worked throughout the years to assist these patients and their loved ones with the dramatic psychosocial effects of the disease.


From left, Hirsch, Calderwood, McCorkle, McLaughlin, Gandhi and Basgoz.

To mark these milestones, the MGH Division of Infectious Diseases and the Partners AIDS Research Center hosted "25th Anniversary of the First Report of U.S. AIDS Cases," June 8 at the Simches Research Center. More than 100 guests attended the event.

Keynote speaker Martin Hirsch, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases and editor of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, is widely considered to be a pioneer in the study of HIV/AIDS and has been at the forefront of HIV research at the MGH for 25 years. At the event, Hirsch described the major achievements made in understanding the virus, beginning with the first HIV patient seen at the MGH.

Nesli Basgoz, MD, clinical director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, also provided profound insights regarding her 25 years of HIV study, as well as moving stories about several of her patients who had died from the disease.

Peter L. Slavin, MD, MGH president, gave an overview of the hospital's support of HIV research and clinical care. Slavin also recounted the impact of his recent trip to South Africa with Bruce Walker, MD, director of the Partners AIDS Research Center. On that trip, Slavin witnessed the devastating effect of HIV and AIDS on the people of the region, and he called on MGH employees to contribute improving care of patients with this disease throughout the world.

Stephen Calderwood, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, described the expansion of the MGH outpatient Infectious Disease Clinic over the course of the past 25 years to meet the challenge posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Other speakers included Rajesh T. Gandhi, MD, director of HIV Clinical Services; Sandra McLaughlin, LICSW, and Charles McCorkle, LICSW, both of the Department of Social Services.