Apr 19, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

Sixty-eight million people in the world are infected with HIV (five million in the last year alone), posing a significant threat to the health and economies of the world.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Professor of Medicine Jay Levy will discuss how scientists are dealing with this worldwide crisis when he delivers the Mindlin Lecture, "The Social and Economic Threat of HIV/AIDS: How Does Science Face the Challenge?" in McAlister Auditorium of Galileo Hall at Harvey Mudd College on Wednesday, April 27, at 7 p.m.

Over the past 20 years, human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) has spread to every continent in the world and threatens the economic growth and well-being of the entire human population. Levy will discuss ways knowledge of the virus has grown and the new steps that have been developed to curb its transmission and human mortality.

In addition to his duties at professor of medicine at UCSF, where he has been since 1972, Levy is research associate in the Cancer Research Institute and director of the Laboratory for Tumor and AIDS Virus Research. He obtained his M.D. degree from Columbia University, New York.

During the last 22 years, Levy and his researchers have dedicated their efforts to the biology, immunology and molecular biology of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). His group was the first to isolate HIV and originally called it the AIDS-associated retrovirus (ARV). Levy has published over 400 articles in virology and infectious diseases, particularly on HIV/AIDS.

His current studies involve host immune responses to HIV and the development of an HIV vaccine. His research focuses especially on individuals who have survived more than 10 years with no symptoms and have a normal CD4+ cell count. He is pursuing the study of such individuals in China, India, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and other parts of the world.

The lecture is made possible by a generous gift of the Mindlin Foundation and is co-sponsored by the Harvey Mudd College Department of Biology.