HIV Physicians Honored for Contributions to Clinical Care and Research

The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) recognizes Elaine J. Abrams, MD, of Columbia University, and Vincent Lo Re III, MD, MSCE, FIDSA, of the University of Pennsylvania, for their significant contributions to the field of HIV medicine. The honorees will be recognized at IDWeek 2016 in New Orleans.

“It is our honor to present these two exceptional professionals with this year’s awards,” said Carlos del Rio, MD, HIVMA chair. “Their expertise and dedication to the field have played an essential role in advancing research and knowledge in HIV medicine.”

Abrams, is the recipient of the 2016 HIVMA Clinical Educator Award, which recognizes those who have demonstrated significant achievement in the area of clinical care and provider education. Her contributions have changed practice and had an impact on pediatric and maternal HIV care worldwide.

Abrams has dedicated her career to researching mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the natural history of the disease in infants, children and adolescents. Her work contributed to the evolution of pediatric treatment from single to dual to combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). She helped develop new prevention approaches, including recommending ART for all HIV-infected pregnant and breastfeeding women. She conducted implementation science research in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, which benefited hundreds of thousands of HIV-infected mothers and their children around the world. She developed the Family Care Center in central Harlem, a comprehensive research and care program for women and children with HIV.

A teacher, advisor and mentor for young researchers, Dr. Abrams developed training modules used by thousands who provide pediatric and adolescent HIV care globally. She wrote more than 200 articles published in peer-reviewed journals and has received several honors, including the Dr. Linda Laubenstein Award for HIV Clinical Excellence from the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute in 2006.

Lo Re is receiving the 2016 HIVMA Research Award, which recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to HIV medicine in clinical or basic research early in their careers. Through research, he has advanced the understanding of hepatitis infection in HIV-infected patients. He developed new methods to identify liver-related outcomes – particularly decompensated cirrhosis, acute hepatic failure and hepatocellular carcinoma – which are used by researchers throughout North America. Clinicians and policymakers cite his findings to justify initiating HCV treatment in chronic HIV-infected patients even in the absence of advanced hepatic fibrosis or cirrhosis.

Lo Re authored more than 50 articles published in peer-reviewed publications and has been a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee (now the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee) since 2014. He received numerous young investigator awards and other honors, including recognition as one of the Best Doctors in America several times.

Source: HIV Medicine Association