Timothy Brown
“The Berlin Patient”
First Person Cured of HIV
Dr. Zabrina Brumme
Director, Laboratory Program
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
Associate Professor, Health Sciences
Simon Fraser University
Timothy Ray Brown is “The Berlin patient”. Although American, he was living in Berlin and receiving treatment for HIV when he was diagnosed in 2006 with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Dr. Gero Hütter, who had a cutting-edge idea to treat Timothy’s leukemia, replacing his immune system using a stem cell transplant from a person who was born immune to HIV infection, treated him. The successful stem cell transplant took place on February 7, 2007. The rest is medical history.
International researchers recognized Timothy as the first and only documented case of a person who has been cured of HIV so far until March 4, 2019, when the media announced that a second patient had gone 18 months without his HIV medication after a similar treatment. Timothy is extremely elated to possibly have a new member in his very miniscule family of people formerly living with HIV. Now, 23 years after he was diagnosed with HIV, the 53-year-old now lives in Palm Springs, California USA. He has chosen to out himself as the man who had until then been known only as “The Berlin Patient”.
Timothy’s most important goal now is to help make his cure create an impetus leading to universally curing HIV; this should be available to everyone regardless of economic means or background. He donates his time, blood and occasionally bodily tissues to help science advance toward realizing this goal.
This is a free lecture and is open to the public. The lectures are geared towards researchers, clinicians, students and hospital staff.
For more information, please contact education@cfenet.ubc.ca / local 66255
