Prof. David Da-I Ho

Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center

Dr. David D. Ho is the Founding Scientific Director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center and the Clyde and Helen Wu Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Ho has been at the forefront of AIDS research for 40 years. His elegant studies unraveled the dynamic nature of HIV replication in vivo and revolutionized our basic understanding of this horrific disease. This knowledge led him to champion combination antiretroviral therapy that resulted in unprecedented control of HIV in patients. An automatic death sentence has been transformed into a manageable disease, and over 25 million worldwide are currently on such therapy. Dr. Ho’s research team has made considerable contributions to the development of strategies to diagnose, treat and prevent COVID-19 infection.
Dr. Ho received his degrees from California Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School and has received fourteen honorary doctorates. He was named Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1996 and was the recipient of a Presidential Medal from Bill Clinton in 2001. He is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine as well as the Chinese Academy of Engineering.