Timothy Ray Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Timothy Ray Brown
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Brown in 2012
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| Born | March 11, 1966 Seattle, Washington, U.S.
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| Died | September 29, 2020 (aged 54) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Known for | First person cured of HIV/AIDS |
Timothy Ray Brown (born March 11, 1966 – died September 29, 2020) was an American man. He is known as the first person ever cured of HIV/AIDS.
At first, people called him "The Berlin Patient" in 2008. This was when doctors first announced his cure. They used this name to keep his identity a secret. But in 2010, Timothy chose to tell the world who he was. He said, "I didn't want to be the only person cured. I wanted to help make a cure possible for others. My first step was sharing my name and picture with everyone."
Timothy's Special Treatment
Timothy Ray Brown was born in Seattle, Washington, on March 11, 1966. He grew up there with his mother. Later, he traveled around Europe. In 1995, while studying in Berlin, he found out he had HIV.
In 2006, Timothy was diagnosed with another serious illness: acute myeloid leukemia, which is a type of cancer. To treat this cancer, he had a special procedure on February 7, 2007. This was a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, also known as a bone marrow transplant. Doctors in Berlin, Germany, performed the surgery.
They looked for a donor who was a good match for Timothy. Out of 60 possible donors, they found one with a very rare genetic trait. This donor had two copies of a special gene called CCR5. This gene helps block the HIV virus from entering cells. About 10% of people from Europe or Western Asia have this natural protection.
Timothy had the transplant again a year later because his cancer came back. For three years after the first transplant, doctors could not find any HIV in his blood. Even though he stopped taking his HIV medicine, the virus seemed to be gone. The levels of HIV-fighting chemicals in his blood also went down. This suggested that the HIV had been removed from his body.
Challenges and Other Cases
Timothy, known as "The Berlin Patient," faced serious problems after his transplant. He had complications like graft-versus-host disease. This is when the new cells attack the patient's body. These problems made doctors think that this type of treatment might be too risky for most people with HIV.
Eleven years later, another man seemed to be cured. He was called "The London Patient." Later, he shared his name, Adam Castillejo. He also had a bone marrow transplant for cancer. His donor also had the special CCR5 gene mutation.
By 2017, it looked like six more people might have been cleared of HIV. These people also had graft-versus-host disease after their transplants. Only one of them had received cells with the special CCR5 gene. This made scientists think that when a patient gets graft-versus-host disease, the new cells might help kill off the HIV-infected cells in the body.
Timothy's Later Life
In July 2012, Timothy Ray Brown started the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation in Washington, D.C.. This foundation works to fight HIV/AIDS and find a cure.
In September 2020, Timothy shared sad news. The leukemia that led to his famous treatment had returned in 2019. He was very ill. Timothy went into hospice care in Palm Springs, California. He passed away there on September 29, 2020, at 54 years old.
See also
In Spanish: Timothy Ray Brown para niños
- Stephen Crohn
- Innate resistance to HIV
- Long term non progressor
- HIV/AIDS research
