One and only HIV cured 'Berlin patient' gives first-person account

The first and only man cured of HIV, Timothy Ray Brown, has spoken out, giving the first person account of his battle with 12 years of illness.

Long known only as the "Berlin Patient," Brown is the first person in the world to be cured of the infection following a stem cell transplant in 2007. He recalls his many years of illness, a series of difficult decisions, and his long road to recovery in the first-person account, "I Am the Berlin Patient: A Personal Reflection."

The article is part of a special issue on HIV Cure Research and is available free on the AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses website.

Brown's Commentary describes the bold experiment of using a stem cell donor who was naturally resistant to HIV infection to treat the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) diagnosed 10 years after he became HIV-positive. The stem cell donor had a specific genetic mutation called CCR5 Delta 32 that can protect a person against HIV infection. The virus is not able to enter its target, the CD4 cells. After the stem cell transplant, Brown was able to stop all antiretroviral treatment and the HIV has not returned.

This has been the first time that people would get to read the important story written by the man who lived it, said Thomas Hope, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses and Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.

The article is published in peer-reviewed journal, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.