Dr. Mark Wainberg, a ground-breaking AIDS researcher and social activist whose work has helped save millions of lives worldwide, is one of six luminaries who have been selected for induction in the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF). “The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is proud to welcome these six individuals whose outstanding contributions to health have made Canada, and the world, a better place,” said Dr. Gray, Chair of the CMHF, in the announcement earlier today. “Their impact is well documented and they have earned their place alongside the current 113 Laureates of The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.”
In it’s citation, the CMHF praised Wainberg, the Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre and Head of the HIV/AIDS research axis at the Lady Davis Institute, for having “revolutionized our understanding of HIV/AIDS at medical, epidemiological and political levels.”
Wainberg is well known for his involvement in 1989 in the initial identification of lamivudine (3TC) as an antiviral drug, now one of the most widely used drugs in the treatment of HIV. While president of the International AIDS Society in 2000, he brought the XIIIth International Conference on AIDS to Durban, South Africa, drawing unprecedented international attention to the lack of access to anti-HIV drugs in developing countries. Most recently, Wainberg has turned his attention to achieving a cure for HIV infection based on the possibility that HIV may not be able to become resistant to certain new compounds that block viral replication.
Joining Wainberg as the newest members of the CMHF will be Professor Michael Bliss, Dr. May Cohen, Dr. Gordon Guyatt, Dr. David Naylor, and the late Right Honourable Sir Charles Tupper . The induction ceremony will be held in association with McMaster University, Faculty of Health Sciences on April 14, 2016, at the Hamilton Convention Centre in Hamilton, Ontario.
“The impact of the extraordinary lifework of this year’s inductees into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame has resonated across Canada and around the world, improving the health of millions not just now, but for generations to come,” said Dr. John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Faculty of Health Sciences of McMaster University.
Read more about the newest inductees to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
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Wainberg earns Top Canadian Achievements Award (2013)
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Leading the charge against AIDS (1998)
Watch this video about Dr. Mark Wainberg’s work as an HIV/AIDS researcher and activist.