Internationally recognized HIV/AIDS researcher and Presidential Medal recipient Dr. David D. Ho will present the James C. Hill Memorial Lecture at NIH on Tuesday, May 20. His talk, titled "The Dynamics of HIV-1 Replication In Vivo," will begin at 2 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10.

Ho 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. David Ho He has been doing HIV/AIDS research for 20 years, and has published more than 250 papers on the subject. He is perhaps best recognized for elucidating the dynamic nature of HIV replication in infected persons. This basic understanding led Ho and his coworkers to champion combination antiretroviral therapy, including the use of protease inhibitors, which has resulted in dramatic reductions in AIDS-associated mortality in developed countries since 1996. Ho continues to pursue therapeutic studies that attempt to eradicate HIV. His research team is trying to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of the AIDS epidemic.

He received his B.S. from the California Institute of Technology and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, he did his clinical training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine and also at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In recognition of his scientific accomplishments, Ho has received numerous honors and awards. In 2001, he received a Presidential Medal. He has also received six honorary doctorates including from Swarthmore, Tufts, Columbia and the University of Natal. 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, the Squibb Award, the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award and the Mayor's Award for Excellence in Science & Technology from the New York Academy of Sciences. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica (Republic of China), and the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences.

Named Time magazine's Man of the Year in 1996, Ho is also an honorary professor at both Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Currently, he serves on the board of overseers of Harvard University and board of trustees of the California Institute of Technology.

The NIAID-sponsored lecture is dedicated to the memory of Dr. James C. Hill who, as NIAID deputy director, played an important role in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Hill worked closely and tirelessly with institute staff and was a cohesive force in NIAID's relations with other government agencies, Congress, activists and other community and political leaders.

A reception will follow the lecture, and all are invited to attend.