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Dr. Harriett Robinson is at work on one of the most promising HIV vaccines. (Photo courtesy Emory)
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National HIV Testing Day reminds gays to know their status
HIV/AIDS organizations are urging everyone to know their status on National HIV Testing Day, June 27.
The National Association of People With AIDS began National HIV Testing Day in 1995. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention estimates some 250,000 people in the U.S. living with HIV/AIDS do not know their status.
“In order to protect your HIV status and do something about it, you need to know what your status is,” said Neena Smith-Bankhead, director of education for AID Atlanta. “Without knowing you can’t really take steps to care for yourself and those around you.”
AID Atlanta will offer instant oral testing all day at its office on Peachtree Street, in the morning at the Mexican Consulate and at the Latin American Association in the afternoon. The test can be done with a mouth swab and provide results in 20 minutes.
National HIV Testing Day
June 27
www.napwa.org
Where to get tested:
AID Atlanta
12 p.m. – 7 p.m.
1605 Peachtree St.
404-870-7770
www.aidatlanta.org
Mexican Consulate
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
2600 Apple Valley Road
404-266-2233
Latin American Association
2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
2750 Buford Highway
404-638-1800
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: MATT SCHAFER
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Dr. Harriet Robinson’s life work can be measured with a microscope, but it’s big enough to possibly change the world.
For 16 years Robinson has worked 80-hour weeks in the hopes of developing a vaccine to prevent further spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
“None of my family members have AIDS, I don’t have any close friends with it,” Robinson said. “It’s really just something that I’ve been trained to do. I just like working on something that is important for world health.”
Robinson started her vaccine research while at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Shrewsbury, Mass. In 1992, she was one of the discoverers of DNA vaccines.
“At the time I was working on retroviruses and HIV is one of the viruses that could be affected by a DNA vaccine, and so it was logical for me to pursue AIDS research,” she said.
During the time Robinson started her research, AIDS was a leading cause of death among gay men. She said there was no stigma from the research community, but she did have to find a new place to do her research.
“In order to move on the AIDS virus, I had to move from where I had been at Worcester to the University of Massachusetts because they were worried about accidental transmission, which is really unnecessary,” Robinson said. “People are at ease working with the virus now, and it’s very easy to contain it because it’s needle sticks and broken glass that transmit it and you can control that. … If I had stayed at the Worcester Foundation I would have been the only lab in the building.”
Robinson stayed at the University of Massachusetts until 1997 when she needed to begin running primate tests.
“In order to do the vaccine trials you have to use a non-human challenge … it’s the only way where you can do an immuno challenge so you can see if you get a response,” Robinson said. “At other facilities you were very distant from the site and it was very difficult to get results. I had been looking for a non-human research facility and that’s how I came to Emory.”
‘CLOSER THAN YOU KNOW’
Robinson began her research at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University. On a tour of another research facility, she met a young researcher from India. Dr. Rama Amara had been assigned to occupy Robinson during a scheduling conflict. A 20-minute conversation led to a job offer and Amara played a significant role in developing the vaccine as it moved through the clinical trial process.
The two work closely enough to know each other’s habits, and when research began to look promising, Amara noticed a change in Robinson.
“I could be a little bit off, but I still say with a good intention that when I joined — then on the weekends she wasn’t there very much, I don’t remember, but I don’t think she was there,” Amara said. “Once we had some interesting results in monkeys then I saw a total shift. She saw that there is something here that can be taken forward to people. Then you see her and there is no day or night, she is there.”
Now her days start at 8 a.m. and tend to end after 7 p.m. On Saturday she attends a weekly yoga class and arrives at work at 11 a.m. Sunday she attends church, buys groceries at Whole Foods and works from noon until 4 p.m.
“Then she started working longer hours, and writing grants and hiring people, it was like an entire industry. I’ve seen a big shift in her life,” Amara said.
With substantial funding from Emory University, Robinson and Amara founded GeoVax. They are building the company to develop and deliver Robinson’s vaccine quickly, and as inexpensively as possible, to the world.
Her colleagues describe Robinson as a methodical and systematic thinker, who, while collaborative, wants to remain in control of her vaccine throughout testing and potentially after it gets to the market. Robinson left her full-time position at Emory in February to work at GeoVax, but is still technically part of the Emory faculty.
After the well-publicized failure of a Merck HIV vaccine earlier this year, the Robinson vaccine has gained more publicity as many researchers view it as the best shot to date to one day provide an effective vaccine ...
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