Julio Montaner is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at the University of British Columbia. We asked everything from why he chose his field of study to what’s on his playlist in hopes of giving you a better understanding of what goes on outside the lab for one of the best minds in Canadian research.
What inspired you to become a researcher?
The inspiration largely came from my family. My mother was a botanist but my father had the largest influence. He was a clinical physician specializing in tuberculosis. Alongside his practice he would do house calls and have patients come to our house, a big no-no today but I found it fascinating. My favourite game was playing doctor – I had “experience” with patients growing up and what it meant to be a doctor. As for HIV, when I entered the profession specializing in respiratory diseases HIV was the newest thing (1981) and so I was put on that. I only intended to stay in Canada for a year but ended up staying permanently. I married a Canadian and she was very persuasive. I love the Canadian health care system where everyone can have access to healthcare with the highest possible standards and I was eager to make a difference not just in medicine but in policy.
What do you like most about being a researcher?
The ability to solve problems. Science in all its forms is fascinating and extremely important, but I personally get enormous satisfaction from solving problems affecting people in the here and now. My work has immediate resonance for people and the sense of urgency associated with it add value to the work. My desire has always been to bring tangible solutions to things that are critical to people’s well being and lives and my work affords me the chance to do that.
What do you envision in the future of your field?
We have to divide the future of the field into several parts – scientifically we are very encouraged by the limited but very steady progress towards both a cure and a vaccine. It might take days, months or years but it is getting there. Aside from that I’m thrilled our own work has led to the development of a strategy that can’t eliminate HIV directly but can eliminate the chance of a pandemic, reducing it to a sporadic and rare infection. With the “treatment as prevention” strategy where we aggressively treat patients early on in the disease we have helped prevent morbidity, mortality and transmission and made BC the only province with a decreasing rate of HIV/AIDS. We now hope that with the 90-90-90 goal from the UN we can make huge strides in treating and ridding the world of the disease.