Mark Wainberg

Mark Wainberg
Born	April 21, 1945 (1945-04-21) (age 66)
Fields	AIDS research
Alma mater	McGill University Columbia University
Notable awards	OC, OQ

Mark A. Wainberg, OC, OQ, FRSC (born April 21, 1945) is a Canadian AIDS researcher and activist. He is the Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital and Professor of Medicine and of Microbiology at McGill University. His laboratory primarily studies HIV reverse transcriptase, and the molecular basis for drug resistance.^[1] He received a B.Sc. from McGill University in 1966, a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1972, and did his post-doctoral research at Hadassah Medical School of the Hebrew University.

Accomplishments and honors

Dr. Wainberg and his collaborators were the first to identify the antiviral capabilities of 3TC in 1989 and test the drug in patients. 3TC is also called Lamivudine.

From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Wainberg was President of the International AIDS Society. He was Co-Chair of the XVI International AIDS Conference and a past president of the Canadian Association for HIV Research. Dr. Wainberg is an Editor-in Chief of the Journal of the International AIDS Society and Editor of Retrovirology (journal). He is or has been an editor on publications including the Journal of Human Virology, the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, International Antiviral News, AIDS Patient Care and STDs, the Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

In 2008, Dr. Wainberg was named a Chevalier de Légion d'honneur, the highest honor given by the country of France.^[2] In 2001, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour, for his "major contributions to the study and treatment of" HIV/AIDS.^[3] In 2005, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec, an order of merit bestowed by the government of the Province of Quebec.^[4] In 2000, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

AIDS advocacy

Dr. Wainberg advocates giving AIDS-related relief to developing countries. He has been critical of politicians who ignore the problem of AIDS, including former South African President Thabo Mbeki.^[5] Dr. Wainberg also opposes the pseudoscientific ideas of AIDS denialism that are responsible for an estimated 330,000 AIDS deaths in South Africa alone.^[6]

In 2006, Dr. Wainberg criticized the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper for his absence from the XVI International AIDS Conference of which Dr. Wainberg was the Co-Chair.^[7] In 2004, he was videotaped by AIDS denialist Robin Scovill, whose HIV-positive wife died in 2008 and whose daughter died of untested and untreated AIDS in 2005.^[8] In this interview, Dr. Wainberg proposes that those who harm others by publicly questioning HIV as the cause of AIDS should be jailed on charges of public endangerment.

References

1. ^ McGill department site Accessed November 8, 2008^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Canadian HIV expert named to France's highest order". CBC News. August 21, 2008. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/08/21/mtl-wainberglegion0821.html. 
3. ^ Order of Canada citation
4. ^ "National Order of Quebec citation". http://www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca/recherche_details.asp?id=11072. 
5. ^ New York Times July 11, 2000
6. ^ Researchers Estimate Lives Lost Due to Delay in Antiretroviral Drug Use for HIV/AIDS in South Africa
7. ^ "AIDS conference opens in Toronto without Harper". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060813/aids_template_060813/20060813?hub=CTVNewsAt11.  August 14, 2006
8. ^ A Mother's Denial, a Daughter's Death: Article from L.A. Times, Sep 24, 2005

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Name	Wainberg, Mark
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Date of birth	April 21, 1945
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