UBC Reports | Vol. 49 | No. 9 | Sep. 4, 2003

UBC Alumni

The UBC Alumni Association will honour accomplished members of the UBC community at its Ninth Annual Alumni Achievement Awards Dinner on Nov. 20, 2003, at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel. For more information and to purchase tickets, please call the Association at 604-822-3313 or visit the website at www.alumni.ubc.ca.

AIDS Researcher Wins Alumni Award > Martin T. Schechter MA’75, PhD, MD, MSc

A well-recognized figure in the international research community, Martin Schechter is a pioneer in the field of HIV and AIDS research and attracts a high level of grant funding for UBC and its teaching hospitals.

Schechter began research into AIDS before the first cases came to light in Canada, and before its viral nature was established. He is now a Canada Research Chair in HIV / AIDS and Urban Population Health, studying the mechanisms of disease susceptibility among marginalized Canadians living in inner cities. His research has increased understanding of HIV transmission, leading to improved strategies for prevention.

Schechter began teaching at UBC in 1983 and now heads the department of Health Care and Epidemiology. Since 1993 he has been national director of the Canada HIV Trials Network. It links researchers, people living with HIV / AIDS, primary caregivers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and regulatory agencies, facilitating partnerships for clinical trials of promising new therapies. He is also director of the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, which pools the expertise of research scientists from various fields to examine current therapies and practices.

Co-chair of the international Conference on AIDS, held in Vancouver in 1996, Schechter is frequently interviewed by news media about the disease and his ongoing research.

Schechter was co-founder of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV / AIDS, established in 1991, and was elected founding president of the Canadian Association for HIV Research in 1990. He has served on many panels and committees including the National Advisory Committee on AIDS, and the Management Committee of the Krever Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada. He held a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Senior Scientist Award until 2001 and was elected into the Canadian Institute of Academic Medicine in 1998.

He is the 2002 recipient of the Science Council of B.C. Award for Excellence in Research and in the same year received the Queen’s Jubilee Gold Medal. He was named to the Order of British Columbia in 1994.