Photo: Annie LeibovitzThe September issue of the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses pays tribute to the life and legacy of Dr. Mathilde Krim, amfAR’s Founding Chairman, who died in January. It focuses on amfAR’s Mathilde Krim Fellowships in Basic Biomedical Research, awarded each year to advance the careers of promising young investigators and to invigorate the field of AIDS research, and features new research findings by several recent Krim Fellows.
“On January 15, 2018, the world lost Dr. Mathilde Krim, a woman who changed the life of every person who has ever worked in HIV research,” write Drs. Rowena Johnston and Marcella Flores, amfAR’s Director and Associate Director of Research, respectively, in an introductory essay. The authors go on to describe the extraordinary impact of the Krim Fellowships, now in their tenth year: “What is clear is that the Krim Fellowship program has been a highly successful propagator of exceptional talent.”
“The Krim Fellowship program has been a highly successful propagator of exceptional talent.”amfAR’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Robert Frost writes: “The cause of human rights was the thread that bound the fabric of Dr. Krim's life, a life defined by an unwavering commitment to the principle that every life was of equal value. She had neither the patience for, nor the interest in, moralizing or philosophizing on the human condition. Dr. Krim celebrated life in all its beautiful diversity, for she loved a colorful world.”
Former Krim Fellow Dr. Nuria Izquierdo-Useros describes Dr. Krim’s unrivaled legacy in advancing the role of women in science. She writes: “The Matilda effect illustrates how the contributions of women to science have been historically attributed to their male colleagues in some circumstances. As a way to overcome the Matilda effect I propose to embrace the Mathilde Krim effect, and commemorate how the will of a woman had such a profound impact on the fight against HIV and AIDS.”
AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses can be found at www.liebertpub.com/toc/aid/34/9