Photo credit: Eric Bond/Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Benny Kottiri
Acting Research Division Chief
Office of HIV & AIDS
U.S. Agency for International Development

Thirty-five years ago, the first person was diagnosed with an illness that later came to be known as AIDS. Thirty years ago, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) established its first, albeit modest, HIV and AIDS program. Since 1986, USAID’s Office of HIV/AIDS (OHA) has grown tremendously, taking a progressive leadership role in prevention and treatment, while vehemently working on behalf of those made most vulnerable and most stigmatized by this disease.

I am astounded by the numbers of HIV: 36.9 million people are living with HIV; 17.3 million people are infected with HIV but are not aware of their status; 50 young women are infected with HIV every 60 minutes; almost 16 million people are on lifesaving treatment. I could go on and on.

But today, with the establishment of the OHA Research Blog, poignantly launched on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, I am focused on just a single number: One. One vaccine. A safe and effective vaccine could catalyze a game-changing shift in this epidemic – preventing new HIV infections and fully tipping the precarious epidemiological balance between new HIV infections and people on treatment. And with new infections averted – just imagine the possibilities, the impact.

I am thrilled that the OHA Research Blog will allow us to showcase the honest, compassionate, and sometimes gritty reality of basic research science and, more importantly, to have a dialogue about the complexities of HIV research. Research may not be the most sexy of topics, but it is certainly fundamental toward achieving an AIDS-free generation. Over the last several decades, we have learned a tremendous amount about how the virus is transmitted, replicates, and causes AIDS. And currently, USAID, through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, is leading the way in cultivating strategic partnerships to implement HIV and AIDS research and technology development programs, designing and managing biomedical and implementation research, disseminating research findings and supporting their programmatic and policy applications, and supporting sustainable capacity building for HIV and AIDS research. OHA has a strong scientific staff who contribute to the perspectives and insights into the world of HIV and AIDS research. We plan to blog, at a minimum once a month, and we welcome your comments and feedback. And now, I invite you to read our first blog post, At the Bedside of an Epidemic, which highlights HIV Vaccine Awareness Day from a very personal perspective.