Abstract
Mathilde Krim was adamant. There needed to be a scientific and medical journal that focused on a new disease that was decimating members of the gay community. The year was 1983. My company was very young, only 3 years old, but we had already published Journal of Interferon Research and Genetic Engineering News (GEN), which was the only trade publication that was meeting the needs of the fledgling biotechnology industry.
Dr. Krim was committed to advancing research that would find the cause of the disease so that effective treatments might be possible; she believed that Joseph Sonnabend, MD, should take on the role of editor-in-chief of a journal that would disseminate this research and was determined that I should be its publisher. At that time, my young company was still using our living room as its base of operations.
Dr. Sonnabend had a full plate and then some. In addition to his own research, he had a growing medical practice of patients who had AIDS or were at risk for same. At the time, Dr. Sonnabend was considering a multifactorial causation.
Although gay men were getting ill in record numbers and the death toll was climbing, AIDS was not yet designated as a threat to public health. In fact, the research was slow in coming, so slow that it took us 2 years to put out a quarterly publication of what was then titled AIDS Research. Drs. Krim and Sonnabend, however, were not discouraged, and Dr. Krim was supporting research professionally and personally. She founded an organization called the AIDS Medical Foundation, which later merged with a foundation established by actress Elizabeth Taylor, and amfAR was born.
It was a wild time. Public hysteria had begun to take hold. Several years later, this panic had not abated. Our company had grown rapidly, had moved to large offices, and now had a sizable staff. When one of our employees was diagnosed with AIDS, the staff was terrified. No one wanted to be near him, let alone shake his hand, and when he came down with tuberculosis, the staff, badly shaken, asked me to enable testing for all of them, which we did. This young man, who was making a valuable contribution to our company, continued to deteriorate; ultimately he became too ill to work and died in the hospital. A few staff members visited him during this final period of his life, but most were still fearful of being in the same room with him. Medical staffs at hospitals were gloving, gowning, and masking whenever any contact with AIDS patients was required.
At the same time, Dr. Sonnabend had established a highly respected journal with an outstanding editorial board. Dr. Krim remained committed and supportive, more research was taking place, and the journal was publishing papers that were well received. Still, there remained a discouraging and widespread atmosphere of fright.
Greater expenditures for research were called for and inspired by Elizabeth Taylor's open declaration of support for the fight against AIDS. Actors and actresses, designers, and members of the arts and fashion world urged and insisted upon increased federal funding to stem the tide of a disease that was claiming the lives of many in their communities. Pediatric AIDS, transmitted from mother to infant, was also very worrisome and needed to be addressed, which we did; and in my office is a photograph of Princess Diana holding a copy of our pediatric AIDS journal when she attended a medical meeting.
As research accelerated, the journal continued to grow, took firm hold after the first 2 years, and Dr. Sonnabend appointed a retrovirologist as an associate editor. As it grew, new members of the editorial board were appointed and new leadership ensured that the enormous efforts in launching the journal would be fulfilled; a title change, reflecting the determination that AIDS was a retrovirus, was initiated in 1986 and AIDS Research became AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. It is now published monthly, online and in print, with an open access option.
The journal is now celebrating its thirtieth year as a premier repository of important articles that not only enrich the literature but advance research in the public and private sectors all over the globe. Research continues to accelerate, there is better health care for AIDS and HIV patients, and the public is generally more accepting of people with AIDS. It is a better time.
The journal continues to flourish and makes a significant contribution to the literature and to the advancement of research and clinical endeavors.
I thank Dr. Krim, our Founding Editor-in-Chief, Joe Sonnabend, and the editors emeritus: Dani Bolognesi and Eric Hunter. I must express my gratitude as well to members of the international editorial board for their efforts on behalf of the Journal, and especially Editor-in-Chief Tom Hope, for ensuring that the promise of this journal is fulfilled and ongoing. I speak for my entire staff with great pride in our history and great commitment to the field and to the journal. Here's to the next 30 years!