Coming into work this morning I heard a most uplifting broadcast. It wasn't the host or the demeanor of the guest, but the subject matter that lifted my spirits. It was Maryland Morning with Shelia Kast on my local NPR station and she was interviewing Dr. Robert Gallo from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV is part of the University of Maryland School of Medicine). According to the interview, $23.4 million dollars has been awarded to the Institute in a research grant.
I wasn't consciously aware that there was this type of research was happening, but it makes sense that there would be a search for a vaccine. I was very excited because I understood a lot of what Dr. Gallo was talking about in his interview. For example: Gallo talked about the problems with creating a vaccine for HIV/AIDS; it's not safe to use a live stain of the virus like one would use in MMR shots, and a dead strain of the virus like Salk used for the Polio Vaccine doesn't carry the needed protein to prevent HIV/AIDS. I knew about Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine mostly because I'd read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot a few months ago.
If these clinical trials and further research prove successful, it is possible we'll have an AIDS/HIV vaccine in the not so distant future. When I read Skloot's book and learned of the importance of the Polio Vaccine that we now take for granted, I couldn't imagine how the general populace must have felt when the discovery was announced. If the IHV is successful in their efforts, I won't have to imagine it at all. I keep thinking about my dad's friend, that I met on my Ireland Trip, and her stories about her time in Africa; the devastation of AIDS/HIV and Malaria in Africa is unbelievable. And this radio broadcast made me think of those people and what this will mean for the world. It was a ray of hope and positivity in my day.
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