Harvard University
Skip to main content

Harvard University

HIV/AIDS

For more than 40 years, the Harvard community has been working to understand the disease and treat those affected. Now, with life-changing treatments available and potential cures on the horizon, we may be entering a new phase of the epidemic.

Learn more about the virus, its symptoms, prevention, treatment, and more

In partnership with Visual AIDS for Day With(out) Art 2024, the Harvard Art Museums will host an in-person screening of seven newly commissioned videos from around the world exploring the emotional spectrum of living with HIV today.

A colorized image of an HIV particle budding from an infected cell

How HIV research has reshaped modern medicine

Although the search for a cure for HIV continues, the 40-plus-year journey has fueled advances well beyond the virus.

Explore the advances

A man talks while standing in a sunny room with indoor plants behind him

Beginning of the end of the HIV epidemic?

Researchers may have found a powerful new preventative treatment against the virus that causes AIDS.

Learn more about the findings

A digital rendering of a virus

How does a virus work?

What comes to mind when you hear the word “virus”? Perhaps the common cold, a cold sore, or maybe even a global pandemic.

Learn about how viruses work

Making a difference

Harvard researchers have been involved in pioneering the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

A large scale art installation at the Washington Monument with large quilt squares

Disparities in HIV prevalence, prevention, and treatment

Despite progress in treatment and prevention, more than 39 million people lived with HIV across the globe in 2023.

Explore a research roundup from the Harvard Kennedy School

Prevention

Although strides have been made in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, researchers are exploring better and novel approaches to keeping HIV from ever taking hold.

Researchers at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed an AI system that can identify the people within a social network who can most effectively promote information about HIV prevention to their peers.

The Harvard Chan School has developed a highly adaptable vaccine platform that could be a powerful tool in the fight against viral pathogens, including HIV.

A twice-yearly injection of the drug lenacapavir can provide total protection against HIV infections.

Treatment

Harvard experts are doing important work to advance the treatment options available to HIV and AIDS patients.

An illustration of people wearing red ribbons on their chests

Improving life expectancy for youth with HIV in the US

While life expectancy remains lower among youth with HIV compared to their peers without HIV, these gaps have less to do with the disease and more to do with disengagement from care and other sociodemographic factors.

Improving life expectancy for youth with HIV in the US
  • Antibody Therapy

A triple antibody therapy shows promise for long-lasting HIV control

A triple antibody therapy shows promise for long-lasting HIV control
  • Cytotoxic T cell

An impaired T cell study is offering clues on how to retrain the immune system

An impaired T cell study is offering clues on how to retrain the immune system
  • Community care

A model of community-based HIV care can expand access to treatment and sustain strong patient outcomes across the world

A model of community-based HIV care can expand access to treatment and sustain strong patient outcomes across the world
  • Expanding care

Treatment and prevention programs need to be reevaluated to better meet the needs of older populations

Treatment and prevention programs need to be reevaluated to better meet the needs of older populations

Into action

When HIV/AIDS entered the public’s awareness in the 1980s, it brought with it a tremendous amount of uncertainty and deadly misconceptions. Finding effective treatments became a priority across the globe.

Explore a brief history of the virus from Harvard’s Countway Library

A lab technician tests a blood sample
  • 1969

    Sixteen-year-old Robert Rayford from St. Louis, Missouri, who was found to have the first case of HIV/AIDS in the U.S., died in 1969.

  • 1981

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on cases of pneumocystis pneumonia that afflicted “5 young men” in Los Angeles. By the end of 1981, 42,000 people were living with HIV in the U.S.

  • 1987

    The FDA approved Zidovudine (AZT), the first antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV.

  • 1992

    AIDS became the number one cause of death for men ages 25 to 44 in the U.S.

  • 1995

    The epidemic reached its peak in 1995, when more than 45,000 people died from the infection.

  • 1997

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first substantial decline in AIDS deaths in the U.S.

Explore the video
Click to Play Video

Portraying HIV & AIDS in the media: How far have we come?

In 2023, panelists at a Harvard Medical School event reflected on how the media depicts the disease and those living with it.

Still learning

There is still much to learn about HIV and AIDS, and researchers continue to explore the virus’ impact, potential treatment options, and ways to keep people healthy.