“I believe that when you identify the strongest scientists, you back them all the way. Given the inflexibility of federal funding for science research, what is needed is more support for innovation. From the beginning, HSPH’s Max Essex recognized that HIV/AIDS would become a global pandemic of unimaginable proportions. He saw that the only solution would be rigorous and imaginative basic research. He and his colleagues at the HSPH AIDS Initiative not only do groundbreaking work, but also train the next generation of scientists to take on research challenges such as the virulent subtypes of HIV currently decimating so much of Africa.”
Mrs. William McCormick Blair, Jr. is director emeritus and former vice president of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. She has been actively involved with the Harvard AIDS Initiative and Harvard School of Public Health since 1982, and in 2011 received the Volunteer Leadership Award from the School’s Leadership Council.