Benjamin Ryan
Journalist
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HIV Cure

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How a select few people have been cured of HIV
PBS's NOVA, October 2022

​The five successful HIV cures have been the result of treatments too toxic to attempt on all but a select few. So while they provide a scientific roadmap toward success, they do not necessarily make researchers’ job any easier as they work to develop safe, effective and scalable alternatives.

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A 5th person is likely cured of HIV, and another is in long-term remission
NBC News, July 27, 2022
Two new cases have advanced the field of HIV cure science. ​In one, scientists reported that a 66-year-old American man with HIV has possibly been cured of the virus through a stem cell transplant to treat his blood cancer. Spanish researchers have meanwhile determined that a woman who received an immune-boosting regimen in 2006 has been in a state of what they characterize as viral remission.

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Scientists have possibly cured HIV in a woman for the first time
NBC News, February 2022


​An American research team reported that it has possibly cured HIV in a woman for the first time. Building on past successes, as well as failures, in the HIV-cure research field, these scientists used a cutting-edge stem cell transplant method that they expect will expand the pool of people who could receive similar treatment to several dozen annually.

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Woman's own immune system has possibly cured her of HIV
NBC News, November 2021
For the second time in the four-decade history of the HIV epidemic, researchers have documented a case of an individual's own immune system curing them of HIV. Even after scanning over 1 billion cells from the 30-year-old mother from Argentina with highly sophisticated and sensitive tests, scientists could find no viable viral DNA in her body. 

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HIV After COVID: Anthony Fauci and an Army of Researchers Seek to Regain Momentum
The Guardian, June 2021
HIV was instrumental in training armies within the medical, scientific and public health sectors to better fight COVID-19. However, the new pandemic has apparently worsened its predecessor. This comes during the initial roll-out of the national plan Dr. Anthony Fauci designed to ramp up federal spending on HIV with a goal of ending that virus as a public health threat by 2030.

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The Road Ahead For HIV Cure Research
POZ, January 2019

​Today, with better understanding of the complex task at hand, HIV cure researchers are investigating multiple avenues and taking the long view. Along the way, they hope to discover ways of making infection with the virus increasingly innocuous. 

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"Is It Ethical to Take People Off HIV Meds for Cure Research?"
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(POZ, September 2017)
Cure studies typically require a temporary break in HIV treatment, often with little promise of a personal benefit to the participant. However, participating in such research can greatly benefit the scientific knowledge necessary to pursue ways of liberating people with HIV from daily drugs.

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"International HIV Conference Reveals Exciting Progress in Global HIV Fight" 
(POZ, August 2017)


​The fight to combat the global HIV epidemic is charting exciting progress. This includes a rapidly increasing proportion of those living with the virus on treatment as well as falling infection and AIDS-related death rates. But considerable challenges remain.

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"HIV 2020"
(POZ, June 2017)
The dawning of the 2020s will bring HIV into its fifth decade. Crystal balls are by their nature hazy, and the current political climate raises many worrisome questions about how shifting federal priorities may affect people living with and at risk for HIV. Nevertheless, thanks to recent promising strides in HIV research and public health efforts to tackle the virus from all sides, leaders in the field are increasingly optimistic about what the next decade of the epidemic will look like.

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"The Cure For HIV Is Not Around the Corner." 
(POZ, Oct. 2015) 
​Cutting through the hope and the hyperbole.


amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS research, Sharon Stone, the end of AIDS, Charles King, Mark Harrington, Obama
“Selling the End of AIDS.” (POZ, Oct. 2014) As slogans anticipating an end to the AIDS epidemic gain favor, skeptics worry that such lofty promises will backfire.

Steven Deeks, HIV, cure
“Celebrating the Possibility of a Cure.” (POZ, October 2013) HIV advocates fight for the HIV cure cause to have its own awareness day, as with HIV vaccine research and antibody testing.
Merck, POZ, for-profit, cure, research
“The For-Profit HIV Cure Research Crunch.” (POZ, August 2013) How pharma-ceutical and biotech compan-ies are playing a major role in the search for an HIV cure. 

Deborah Persaud, HIV, cure, functional, virus, HIV
“The Case of the Baby ‘Functionally Cured’ of HIV: A Detective Story.” (POZ, April 2013) Was the famous baby really functionally cured of HIV? (The virus rebounded in the child in 2014.) 
  • POZ, Feb. 2014: “THC in Pot Affects Monkey SIV; Half-Baked HIV Reports Follow.”
  • POZ, May 2014: “Media Cooks Up Claim That Soy Sauce Treats, Even Cures HIV.”
  • POZ, Feb. 2013: "Therapeutic Vaccines: Escaping the 'Viral Escape'."
  • HIV Plus, July 2009: “Designer Medicine.” HIV gene therapy research.
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  • Recent Work
  • Archives
    • Archives By Topic >
      • COVID-19
      • Climate
      • Investigations
      • Politics
      • Mpox
      • HIV >
        • PrEP & Prevention >
          • PrEP
          • Other HIV Prevention
        • Treatment & Cure >
          • Treatment
          • Cure
          • Comorbidities & Side Effects
          • HIV Microbiology & Origins
        • Law, Policy & Criminalization >
          • Law & Health Policy
          • HIV Criminalization
        • Non-Profits & Activism
        • Health Insurance
        • Mental Health
        • Hepatitis C >
          • HIV/Hep C Coinfection
        • Global
        • Race
      • New York City
      • LGBTQ+
      • General Health & Science
      • Profiles/A&E >
        • Profiles
        • Arts & Entertainment
    • Archives By Publication >
      • The New York Times
      • The Guardian
      • NBC News
      • The Washington Post
      • The Nation
      • Thomson Reuters Foundation
      • POZ
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Photography
  • TV, PODCASTS, YOUTUBE
  • Contact