amfAR Trustee Dr. Mario Stevenson Honored
amfAR Trustee Dr. Mario Stevenson has been installed as the inaugural holder of the Raymond F. Schinazi and Family Endowed Chair in Biomedicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
A former chair of amfAR’s Scientific Advisory Committee and a renowned expert in molecular virology, Dr. Stevenson is a professor, director of the HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases Institute, and co-director of the Center for AIDS Research at the Miller School. He has been working on the viral etiology of AIDS for over 30 years and has provided insight into the mechanisms regulating HIV replication, persistence and disease pathogenesis.
Mario Stevenson, Ph.D., and Raymond F. Schinazi, Ph.D. (Photo: Jenny Abreu)
A native of Scotland, Dr. Stevenson received his Ph.D. from the University of Strathclyde in 1984. He has served as Chair of the HIV/AIDS Virology Study Section at the National Institutes of Health, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), and has served on the NIH Office of AIDS Research.
Dr. Schinazi, an amfAR Trustee from 2011 to 2018, is the Frances Winship Walters Professor of Pediatrics and director of the Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacology at Emory University and co-director of the HIV Cure Scientific Working Group for the Emory University Center for AIDS Research. A world leader in nucleoside chemistry, Dr. Schinazi is known for his pioneering work developing treatments for HIV and hepatitis B and C. Most people living with HIV in the U.S. on antiretroviral therapy take at least one of the drugs Dr. Schinazi invented.
With their shared passion for science and expertise in HIV, Drs. Stevenson and Schinazi are longtime friends. Dr. Stevenson served as Dr. Schinazi’s best man at his wedding and Dr. Schinazi is godfather to Dr. Stevenson’s daughter. The endowed professorship was made possible by Dr. Schinazi, his wife, Nadira, and their family.
“All of us at amfAR extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Stevenson on this richly deserved honor,” said Kevin Robert Frost, amfAR’s chief executive officer. “We also commend our good friend Ray Schinazi and his family for their generosity and foresight in endowing this Chair in Biomedicine. It will help ensure the vitality of HIV/AIDS research at the University of Miami’s Miller School for many years to come.”
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