TRIBUNE-REVIEW — When drug makers solicited volunteers to test a coronavirus vaccine, Marc Wagner jumped. It was a matter of giving back. Wagner felt compelled to do his part for science. But just as important, it was an opportunity for him to honor the herculean efforts of scientists and others he has met over the last 35 years in his battle against HIV.
Wagner is among some 2,000 men who volunteered for the study in the 1980s and 90s. About 500 surviving volunteers continue to show up faithfully at Pitt twice a year to provide blood and bodily fluids in the quest for a cure for HIV/AIDS. The Pitt Men’s Study is one of the nation’s longest-running scientific research studies. The University of Pittsburgh is among several centers nationwide in the ongoing Multi-Center AIDS Cohort Study.
Honoring the Pitt Men’s Study volunteers, many of whom came forward when HIV/AIDS was a death sentence and some of whom have since died, is a sacred honor, said Charles Rinaldo, a Ph.D. scientist who has led the effort at Pitt for nearly 40 years. “We could not do it without these men,” said Rinaldo, chairman, and professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health. “For over 30 years, they’ve been coming back religiously. These men are dedicated.” Their participation over decades has allowed the study to focus, among other things, on the impact of HIV/AIDS in aging.
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Charles Rinaldo, right, helped to establish the Pitt Men's Study in the early 1980s that continues to investigate the natural history of HIV/AIDS. {Photo: Sean Stipp / Tribune-Review}