The BC Centre for Excellence (BC-CfE) in HIV/AIDS is devastated by the sudden death of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Mark A. Wainberg. His death is a tremendous loss for all the HIV community and Canadian science at large. The BC-CfE has had a long history of working closely with Mark, going back to the days of Zidovudine mono-therapy within the MCAT study starting in 1986, to the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the INCAS trial in the mid 90’s and beyond.
Mark’s seminal work helped identify mutations responsible for HIV drug resistance and played a key role on the development of 3TC, the most prominent Canadian contributions to the anti-HIV therapeutic arsenal. “Beyond his outstanding scientific contributions, Mark will be remembered for his focused and effective advocacy, which played a key role in bringing HAART to the South of the world. He was unique in the scientific community for his commitment to pushing scientific developments to the bedside and into the public policy arena,” said Dr. Montaner, Director of the BC-CfE.
Mark received many prestigious awards and recognitions for his pioneering work. Among them, he was named to the Order of Canada (2001), to the National Order of Quebec (2005) and to France’s Legion d’Honneur (2008). He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2000) and he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (2015).
On behalf of everyone at the BC-CfE, we extend our most sincere condolences to the Wainberg family in this time of grief. Our prayers and thoughts are with you.