13 Apr Sudden death of pioneering AIDS researcher, Professor Mark Wainberg

We are very much saddened to learn of the sudden death of our colleague and friend Professor Mark Wainberg who drowned off the Florida coast on Tuesday while on holiday with his family over Passover. Mark had been at the cutting edge of AIDS research since the start of the epidemic. In 1989, he discovered the antiretroviral activity of the drug lamivudine (3-TC) that remains part of today’s HIV treatment options and he made seminal contributions to our understanding of antiretroviral drug resistance. Mark was also very much an advocate, convening the first International Microbicides Conference in 2000 to stimulate research to develop an HIV prevention product that women could use. As President of the International AIDS Society from 1998 to 2000, he pushed to bring the International AIDS Conference for the first time to the global South. The result was Durban 2000, a watershed event that marked the beginning of the roll-out of HIV treatment across Africa. Mark was a gentleman, a connoisseur, and a generous colleague and friend who had a wonderful sense of humour. He and Joep Lange were close colleagues and friends.

We miss him,

Cate Hankins and Peter Reiss