THIS IS VANCOUVER’S MOST AWESOME DOCTOR IN 2014

published on October 29, 2014 in Vancouver is Awesome

Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Montaner has been a tireless advocate for improving the efficacy and accessibility of HIV treatment and care. Literally thousands of British Columbians are alive today because of his leadership. Throughout his career, he has been dedicated to providing innovative healthcare services to a population that, for a variety of reasons, has difficulty accessing treatment.

In the early 1980s, AIDS hit Vancouver hard, and as a young respiratory specialist at St. Paul’s Hospital, Dr. Montaner found himself treating some of the earliest cases. At a time when the disease was poorly understood and highly stigmatized, he took on the challenge of AIDS and never looked back. More than three decades later, HIV/ AIDS remains a serious health issue facing British Columbians and Dr. Montaner has made significant advances that are turning the tide of the epidemic.

julio-montaner

In the mid 1990s, Dr. Montaner’s innovative experimentation led to the development of High Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), a triple-drug therapy that has become the gold standard of HIV treatment. To an HIV-positive person, this has had life-changing implications; they can live longer, and with a higher quality of life. He has since advanced the thinking on this work, developing a new strategy called Treatment as Prevention. This involves engaging HIV positive individuals earlier into treatment, reducing the virus to almost undetectable levels in the body, making it very difficult to transmit. Has this been successful? You better believe it! But don’t take my word for it: luminaries, including President Bill Clinton, UNAIDS Executive Director Michele Sidebe, and Stephen Lewis, will tell you Dr. Montaner has changed the lives of millions of people worldwide. His patients, like Tiko Kerr, will tell you that they credit him with saving their lives, and the lives of many more.

Bob Kronbauer
Vancouver is Awesome
Read The Full Story

View the full article >>

Tags:

Julio Montaner

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Search form

THIS IS VANCOUVER’S MOST AWESOME DOCTOR IN 2014

Search form