: Health Hinge

Robert Yarchoan (born 1950) is a medical researcher who played an important role in the development of the first effective drugs for AIDS.

Dr. Yarchoan attended Amherst College and subsequently received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Along with his colleagues Drs. Samuel Broder and Hiroaki Mitsuya in the National Cancer Institute (NCI), he co-developed and conducted the first clinical trials of zidovudine AZT, didanosine (ddI), and zalcitabine (ddC). These trials were the first to demonstrate that administration of anti-retroviral drugs could reverse the declines in CD4 cells and immunologic impairment caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. He also conducted the first trials of combination anti-HIV therapy. Dr. Yarchoan’s research efforts have also focused on AIDS malignancies, and he led the first clinical studies showing that paclitaxel was an effective therapy for Kaposi’s sarcoma and that thalidomide had activity in this disease.

Dr. Yarchoan is a co-editor of several journals. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He was awarded the first National Institutes of Health (NIH) World AIDS Day Award in December, 2006 for his work in developing drugs for AIDS. He is now Chief of the HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch in the NCI.

Fransje is married with Jaap Goudsmit and has three daughters. She currently lives in Amsterdam.

After her study on the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Amsterdam, Fransje received her MD degree from in 1978 and her PhD from the same university in 1995. In 1981 she was board certified in the Netherlands as general practitioner. In 1987 she became assistant professor and head of the Women’s Health Studies Department at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam.

In the period 1979-2001 Fransje published over 40 articles in peer-reviewed journals and between 1983 and 1997 she also published five books on women’s health issues. She also wrote medical columns in ELLE, Marie Claire and Santé magazines on a regular basis and has a weekly radio talk show on health-related subjects. During her entire career Fransje van der Waals has remained active as general practitioner and has been a partner in a general practice in the center of Amsterdam for almost 25 years.

As a physician she was used to educate her patients as well as teach and train healthcare personnel. She thus initiated HIVeDucation, a distance computer-based training program for healthcare workers in the developing world who are involved in the treatment and care of HIV/AIDS patients. A first pilot of the program was shown at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona in 2002. From that moment on, things proceeded quickly. From a one-woman idea HIVeDucation became a leading educational organization on HIV healthcare.

Fransje van der Waals (born 1950, Heemstede) is a Dutch medical physician and founder of the non-profit organisation Health[e]Foundation.

Voeller was born in Minneapolis.[1] When he was at school, he was assured by a school counselor that he was not homosexual, even though he had felt such feelings very early on.[2]

Voeller graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Reed College in 1956,[2] and after winning a five year fellowship to the Rockefeller Institute,[1] he gained a Ph.D. in biology in 1961.[2] He eventually worked his way up to the position of associate professor in 1966 at the institute. He wrote four books while at the institute, as well as editing others’ work, and writing numerous papers and articles. He married Kytja Scott Voeller,[1] whom he met at graduate school, and they had three children.[2]

He came out at the age of 29,[1] and divorced from his wife in 1971. After becoming president of the New York Gay Activists Alliance, he decided it was not wide enough in its coverage. Therefore, with some friends, he founded National Gay Task Force in October 1973, of which he was the director until 1978. The Task Force established affiliation with more than 2000 gay groups, and by 1978 had over 10,000 members.[2] He also founded the Mariposa Foundation, which specializes in sex research, and sexually transmitted diseases.[3]

Before the 1980s, AIDS was known by various names, including GRIDD (Gay Related Immune Defense Disorder). Since this term was inaccurate, Voeller coined the term acquired immune deficiency syndrome.[2] His partner was Richard Lucik, who was also his associate at Mariposa. Voeller died in 1994 of an AIDS related illness in California, at the age of 59.[1]

Bruce Raymond Voeller (May 12, 1934 – February 13, 1994) was a biologist and researcher, primarily in the study of AIDS.

Since 1976 — Kandidat Nauk (Medicine), since 1982 — Doktor Nauk (Medicine), since 1986 — Full Professor.

In 1997 he became the associate member of Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, progressing to full member of the Academy in 2000. In 2002 he was elected a member of Presidium of the Academy.

In 1971, Zaporozhan graduated from Pirogov Odessa Medical Institute. He was employed as senior laboratory officer, assistant professor, associate professor, and full professor. Since 1986, he heads the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Odessa State Medical University. Starting from 1994 and until today (as of September 2008) he holds the heading position (Rector) of the Odessa State Medical University.

Valeriy Zaporozhan is Ukrainian researcher, Rector of Odessa State Medical University (Ukraine) since 1994. His initial specialization was obstetrics and gynaecology, which further broadened to cryosurgery and endoscopy, immunology, reproductive medicine, genetic medicine, stem cells, and bioethics. He also developed the concept of nooethics - a further specialization of bioethics in the conditions of noosphere.

Dr. Singer’s most recent books are: Drugs and Development: The Global Impact on Sustainable Growth and Human Rights (2008) and Killer Commodities: Public Health and the Corporate Production of Harm. (Edited with Hans Baer)AltaMira/Roman Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008. To be released in September 2008 is: Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health: Emerging Crises and Systemic Solutions, by Hans Baer and Merrill Singer. Left Coast Press, 2008

Additionally, he has published over 160 scholarly articles and 45 book chapters.

His other books include:
Merrill Singer, Lani Davison and Fuat Yalin (Eds.) Alcohol Use and Abuse Among Hispanic Adolescents. Hartford, CT: Hispanic Health Council, 1987.
Hans Baer and Merrill Singer. African American Religion in the Twentieth Century: Diversity in Protest and Accommodation. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1992
Ralph Bolton and Merrill Singer (Eds.) Rethinking AIDS Prevention: Cultural Approaches. New York: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, 1992.
Merrill Singer and Hans Baer Critical Medical Anthropology. Amiytyville, New York: Baywood Publishing Co., 1995.
Merrill Singer (Ed.) The Political Economy of AIDS. Amityville, New York: Baywood Publishing Co., 1997.
Hans Baer, Merrill Singer and Ida Susser. Medical Anthropology and the World System. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Co., 1997.
Patricia Marshall, Merrill Singer, and Michael Clatts (Eds.) Integrating Cultural, Observational, and Epidemiological Approaches in the Prevention of Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1999.
Jean Schensul, M. LeCompte, Robert Trotter, E. Cromley, and Merrill Singer. Mapping Social Networks, Spatial Data and Hidden Populations. Book 4, The Ethnographer’s Toolkit. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1999.
Margaret LeCompte, Jean Schensul, Margaret Weeks and Merrill Singer. Researcher Roles and Research Partnerships. Books 6, The Ethnographer’s Toolkit. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 1999.
Yun, Wu, Wang Qitian, Cong Rihui, Jianghong Li, Ian Newman, Merrill Singer, Christopher Bates, and Michael Duke (Eds.) New Advancements in Preventive Medicine: Textbook of Continuing Medical Education of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Hohhot, Inner Mongolia: Yuanfang Press, 2002.
Arachu Castro and Merrill Singer (Eds.) Unhealthy Health Policy: A Critical Anthropological Examination. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2004.
Merrill Singer Something Dangerous: Emergent and Changing Illicit Drug Use and Community Health. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2006.
Merrill Singer (Ed.) New Drugs on the Street: Changing Patterns of Illicit Consumption. New York: Haworth Press, 2005.
Benjamin P. Bowser, Ernest Quimby and Merrill Singer (Eds.) Communities Assessing Their AIDS Epidemics: Results of the Rapid Assessment of HIV/AIDS in U.S. Cities. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2006.
Merrill Singer The Face of Social Suffering: Life History of a Street Drug Addict. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 2007.
Merrill Singer and Hans Baer Introducing Medical Anthropology: A Discipine in Action. Lanham, MD: Altamira Press, 2007.