Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, “the woman who discovered HIV” To Speak At Fred Hutch

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, the French virologist/director of the Regulation of Retroviral Infections Division at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France and regarded as “the woman who discovered HIV” will appear and speak at a community forum at the Fred Hutchinson campus tonight, Wednesday, August 27 starting at 7pm. Professor Barré-Sinoussi and her mentor, Luc Montagnier were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008. She is in Seattle this week as part of the Conference on Cell and Gene Therapy for HIV Cure at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The virologist’s Seattle appearance closely follows her presiding over the 4th annual International AIDS Society “Towards an HIV Cure” symposium that took place July 19-20 just before the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Several major AIDS researchers enroute to the conference were killed when Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over Russia/the Ukraine. In her opening remarks as the IAS president, Barré-Sinoussi paid tribute to those researchers, including Joep Lange, a major AIDS researcher from the Netherlands who was killed on Flight MH17 who believed that a cure was possible.

More from the press release on tonight’s free event at Fred Hutch:

In conversation with local prize-winning journalist Rosette Royale (Real Change), Professor Barré-Sinoussi will talk about the current international efforts toward an HIV cure and the global initiative she leads — “Towards an HIV Cure”— that addresses the vital need of engaging the communities of people living with HIV in this quest.

Additionally, she will discuss how she has fought HIV by advocating for gay rights, calling for the decriminalization of drug addiction, and challenging the Vatican’s anti-condom views.

This dialogue will be open for questions FROM YOU.

So come join our community conversation with this passionate scientist & activist, and you just might learn what more we can do to prevent, treat and cure HIV.

FREE ADMISSION – FREE PARKING – LIGHT REFRESHMENTS

Pelton Auditorium (located in the Thomas Building on the Fred Hutchinson campus, 1100 Fairview Ave N. in Seattle)

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