David Ho facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Ho
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| 何大一 | |||||||||||||||||
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Ho in 2012
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| Born | November 3, 1952 |
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| Education | California Institute of Technology (BS) Harvard University (MD) |
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| Known for | HIV/AIDS research | ||||||||||||||||
| Awards | Ernst Jung Prize (1991) Bristol-Myers Squibb Award (1996) American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1997) Presidential Citizens Medal (2001) |
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| Scientific career | |||||||||||||||||
| Fields | Virology | ||||||||||||||||
| Institutions | Columbia University Rockefeller University |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 何大一 | ||||||||||||||||
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David Da-i Ho (Chinese: 何大一; pinyin: Hé Dà-yī; born November 3, 1952) is a Taiwanese-American scientist. He is a doctor and a virologist, which means he studies viruses. Dr. Ho has made many important discoveries about HIV infection. He also helped create new ways to treat it.
He was a leader in using combination therapy for HIV. This means using several medicines together instead of just one. His work helped change HIV from a deadly disease into a manageable condition.
David Ho was born in Taiwan in 1952. He moved to the United States in 1965. He studied at the California Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School. Later, he trained at UCLA School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital.
He is the founder and scientific director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center. He is also a professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Both are part of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
Early Life and Education
David Ho was born in Taichung, Taiwan. His father, Paul, was an engineer. His mother was Sonia Ho. He went to elementary school in Taichung. In sixth grade, he moved to the United States with his mother and younger brother. They joined his father, who had moved there in 1957.
Ho grew up in Los Angeles. He graduated from John Marshall High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from the California Institute of Technology in 1974. In 1978, he received his medical degree (M.D.) from Harvard Medical School.
Amazing Discoveries
Dr. Ho has been involved in HIV/AIDS research since the AIDS outbreak began. He first focused on how HIV viruses work and how they become resistant to medicines. Before 1996, doctors used only one medicine, like AZT, to treat HIV. This single medicine often did not stop the disease from getting worse.
In the mid-1990s, Dr. Ho's team studied how HIV copies itself in the body. This research helped them understand how to fight the virus better. They were pioneers in treating HIV "early and hard" with combination antiretroviral therapy. This was a new way to use several medicines at once. They showed that this treatment could control HIV in patients for a long time.
Dr. Ho and his team at ADARC shared their amazing results at the International AIDS Conference 1996. This was a major turning point. HIV changed from a certain death sentence to a disease that people could live with.
As of February 2020, Dr. Ho has published over 500 research papers.
Dr. Ho is a member of the Committee of 100. This is a group of Chinese American leaders. He also belongs to several scientific organizations.
He led a team that looked for a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus. This team was funded by the Jack Ma Foundation.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Ho was named Time magazine's 1996 Man of the Year. Time magazine said that while he wasn't a household name, he was making history. He was the last person chosen as Person of the Year in a U.S. presidential election year without winning that election. In 1998, he received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
In 2000, Dr. Ho was the main speaker at graduation ceremonies for Caltech, MIT, and Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
He has received many awards for his scientific work. On January 8, 2001, President Clinton gave him the Presidential Citizens Medal.
On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger honored Dr. Ho. He was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. This hall is located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.
The California Institute of Technology gave him their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015. In 2017, he received the Portrait of a Nation Prize. This award was from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
Other awards include the Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine and the Squibb Award. He also received the Architect of Peace and the Hoechst Marion Roussel Award.
Dr. Ho is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also part of Academia Sinica in Taiwan and the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. He serves on the board of trustees for the California Institute of Technology. He was also on the boards of Harvard University and MIT.
He is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The Kingdom of Thailand honored Dr. Ho with the Prince Mahidol Award in Medicine.
In 2022, he received the Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence - Immunity.
Personal Life
Dr. Ho's family comes from Xinyu, Jiangxi Province. He is married to Tera Wong. They have four children: Kathryn, Jonathan, Jaclyn, and Jerren.
See also
In Spanish: David Ho para niños
- Treatment of HIV/AIDS
- International AIDS Conference 1996
- Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
- Chinese Americans in New York City
- Taiwanese Americans in New York City
