» Media converges on Worcester to discuss game-changing HIV research
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collins-sullivan-hiv-pressconfMedia converges on Worcester to discuss game-changing HIV research

By Jim FessendenMarch 4, 2013
UMass Medical School Communications 

Read the extensive coverage in the media on Monday, March 4:

Wall Street Journal: Baby Cured of HIV for the First Time, Researchers Say

Boston Herald: UMass doc: We cured an HIV-infected baby

PBS News Hour: First Child Cured of HIV

USA Today (with video): Doctors report first cure of HIV in a child

New York Times: In Medical First, a Baby With H.I.V. Is Deemed Cured

Washington Post: Baby born with HIV is apparently cured with aggressive drug treatment

NPR: Scientists Report First Cure Of HIV In A Child, Say It's A Game-Changer

WBZ: Boston UMass Researcher Involved In Cure For Baby Born With HIV

WHDH-TV Boston: UMass researchers on possible HIV cure

Fox-TV News Boston: Scientists say baby born with HIV apparently cured (3 video package)

NECN: UMass plays role in possible HIV cure in children

WCVB-TV Boston: HIV breakthrough: Baby potentially cured of AIDS

New York Times editorial: The Intriguing Case of a Baby Cured of HIV

Boston Herald editorial: One tiny miracle at a time

Boston-area media from WCVB, WHDH, WBZ-TV, NECN and Worcester News Tonight, converged on UMass Medical School on Monday, March 4, to speak to Chancellor Michael F. Collins and John L. Sullivan, MD, professor of pediatrics and molecular medicine, about the recently announced news that UMMS’s own Katherine Luzuriaga, MD, had helped “functionally cure” an infant with HIV.

A two-year-old child born with HIV infection and treated with antiretroviral drugs beginning in the first hours of life no longer has detectable levels of virus using conventional testing despite not taking HIV medication for 10 months, according to findings presented by Dr. Luzuriaga, professor of pediatrics and molecular medicine, at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta today.

“UMass Medical School’s research reaches around the world and we are very proud of our scientists,” Chancellor Collins said at the press conference, held earlier today. “This is why we do science. This is why medical schools like ours are created.”

UMass Medical School has been on the forefront of HIV research beginning when the virus first started appearing in humans more than 30 years ago. Dr. Sullivan has been collaborating with Luzuriaga on treatments for HIV and the immunology of persistent viruses throughout their careers.

Related stories on UMassMedNow:

Researchers describe first 'functional HIV cure' in an infant

Early HIV treatment aids long-term viral suppression in teens