Multicenter AIDS Study marks 25th anniversary

WaPo reports on the 25th anniversary of the Multicenter AIDS Study (MACS), which was launched by researchers at the National Institute of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID):

"Nobody knew where the answers were going to come from," said Joseph Margolick, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and head of the Baltimore branch of the four-city study. (Other clinical sites are in Los Angeles, Chicago and Pittsburgh.) When he joined the study in the 1980s, Margolick was a young researcher with a keen interest in unraveling the mystery behind the seemingly invincible virus.

Since the study's inception in 1984, more than 7,000 men who have sex with men have been enrolled. Some of the participants have died; others have dropped out. Today, about 2,525 men are part of the study, with new participants recruited periodically.

I know men who have participated in that study. Their quiet contribution to this critical research, keeping their appointments year in and year out, is an illustration of the meaning of community and commitment. Cheers to them.