In 1995, AIDS researcher David D. Ho from the The Rockefeller University unlocked HIV replication that led to the development of combination drug therapy that lowered AIDS death.

Ho is known for designing experiments so precisely that they always provide “exactly the findings he needs to support or dismiss his surmises, which are always of consequence,” Esquire magazine wrote in 1999. This focused intelligence and an equally keen determination to reduce human suffering have made Ho preeminent in the battle against HIV/AIDS.

In 1995, Ho’s work was key to unlocking the secrets of HIV replication and the subsequent development of the combination drug therapy — the so-called drug cocktails — that has reduced U.S. and European AIDS deaths to one-fifth of their peak.

Time Magazine named Ho its Man of the Year for this work in 1996, and he received a Presidential Medal in 2001. Ho is the Irene Diamond Professor at The Rockefeller University and is the founding scientific director and chief executive officer of the world-renowned Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, in New York City.

Ho continues to explore the development of an AIDS vaccine and therapies for HIV infection and heads a consortium of Chinese and American organizations addressing the crisis of HIV/AIDS in China.