May is Asian American and South Pacific Islander Heritage Month, so this month we look to honor the men and women with such heritage who have made an impact on history. This week we look to Dr. David Da-I Ho, a Taiwanese American scientist who helped made great advances in the treatment of HIV and AIDS.
Dr. Ho was born in in the small, quiet town of Taichung, Taiwan on November 3, 1952. His name, Da-I, is derived from two Chinese ideograms that translate to literally mean, “Great One,” a Taoist term. He would later take the name David when he came to America as a child, a name chosen by his devout Christian father from the Bible.
When Dr. Ho was just four years old, his father, a former translator for US Troops in China during WWII, left for America in hopes of forging a better life for his family. The trip took 18 days, and for the nine years that followed, Ho would only be able to communicate with his father via weekly letters and packages. It was a sacrifice that Ho would later look back on with appreciation. Even today, he still refers to his father as a role model from a distance and recognizes the sacrifice his father leaving the family for America was for everyone involved, not just him.
When he was 12, Ho’s father sent for him and the family to join him in America. They settled in Los Angeles, not far from the University of Southern California where Ho’s father had received his master’s degree in engineering. Learning English did not come easy for Ho, who was made fun of by his classmates, but thanks to the English-as-a-second-language program and the Three Stooges, he would eventually overcome the language barrier.
After high school, Ho attended M.I.T and Caltech majoring in physics. However, he soon realized that the most appealing prizes in science were not awarded in physics, but in molecular biology. This led to Ho focusing on medical research at Harvard medical School after graduating from Caltech in 1974. Furthermore, after graduating Harvard, Ho went on to train in internal medicine at UCLA. It was there that he encountered a patient who had presented with severe pneumonia, gastrointestinal problems and seizures. The patient died before the night was over. Upon closer examination, they found parasites that typically only occur in chemotherapy patients despite not having a history of chemotherapy or cancer, another parasite in the patient’s brain, and a virus in the gastrointestinal tract. The man had been “perfectly health” just a few weeks prior. Even more shocking was that another patient with similar symptoms came in a few weeks later, and then more started showing up. All of them young gay men.
Although he and his colleagues did not now it at the time, they were experiencing some of the first patients presenting with HIV/AIDS. Ho would continue researching this new disease which he quickly discovered was a virus for years to come. His lab would help identify the virus that caused what would eventually be called AIDS. However, his more pivotal discovery came when his lab discovered a way to help control HIV replication through combination of antiretroviral therapy. Prior to that discovery, the best available treatment for HIV was AZT developed in the 90’s which did not prevent the ultimate progression of HIV into fatal full-blown AIDS, it only slowed it. This made HIV a manageable disease instead of a death sentence.
Ho has not stopped his research with the finding of a way to manage HIV. He has shifted his focus to preventing HIV altogether and has been working on a potential vaccine for the virus. In his view, however, the traditional vaccine shot that would introduce small amounts of the virus into the body to activate the immune system, may not be the best route. Instead, his proposal has been to introduce a ready-made arsenal of antibodies specifically designed to home in on HIV. This is what the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (ARDAC), Ho’s facility, is dedicating its time on, and with benefactors like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it has the funding in place to do it.
Only time will tell if Ho and his lab’s efforts will pay off and cure HIV for future generations, but one thing is certain: Ho has made tremendous contributions to humanity and science and has earned his place as one of the leading minds on HIV research.
References:
Caltech Media Relations (1997, June 2). “Science as a candle of hope” to be theme of David Ho’s Caltech commencement address. Caltech. https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/science-candle-hope-be-theme-david-hos-caltech-commencement-address-189
Chua-Eoan, H. (2000). 1996: David Ho. Time. https://web.archive.org/web/20010123235600/http://www.time.com/time/poy2000/archive/1996.html
Hole, J. (1998, May 23). David Ho interview. Frontline. https://web.archive.org/web/20070429191401/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/hoa0int-1
Park, A. (2010, January 25). David Ho: The man who could beat AIDS. Time. https://web.archive.org/web/20110604065341/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1953703-1,00.html