On AIDS Day, Meet Prof Ravindra Gupta, Man Behind ‘HIV Cure’

(On World AIDS Day, we are republishing this story to spread awareness and break the stigma)

India-born biologist Prof Ravindra Gupta, has made it to the Time Magazine 100 most influential list. Prof Gupta is the force behind ‘London patient’, only the second person ever to be functionally cured of HIV. In February 2020 Adam Catillejo revealed himself as London Patient, with the aim of also being an ‘ambassador of hope’.

Now he has written a tribute to the professor in Time magazine.

What has Prof Gupta done to earn him this honour? FIT spoke with him at length in 2019 on how a cure was found, giving hope to millions of people living with HIV.

Adam Catillejo writes about the professor, "My improbable journey to a functional HIV cure, led by Professor Ravindra Gupta, commenced during a very tempestuous period of my life. But when I was first introduced to Gupta, I was pleasantly surprised. He was thoughtful and compassionate, and his accomplishments—now including oversight of the stem-cell treatments I received from a donor with a rare gene mutation, which led to my remission—clearly earned him respect and admiration from his colleagues in the HIV research community. Now he has mine, as well."

He adds,

“Through the years, our partnership has developed and strengthened as Gupta has shared his knowledge and his enthusiasm to find a feasible cure for everyone. He has championed me and empowered me to become an ambassador of hope to millions of people living with HIV around the world.”

40 million people worldwide live with HIV/AIDS. Currently there is no cure.