Houston Doctor Recalls 30 Years Treating HIV/AIDS Patients, and Researching an HIV Vaccine

Today is World AIDS Day, the international day of HIV/AIDS awareness and remembrance of those affected by the disease.

Houston being home to the internationally renowned Texas Medical Center, there is naturally research being done here regarding HIV/AIDS.

Dr. Adan Rios is among those researching a potential HIV vaccine. He immigrated to Houston in 1982, just as the HIV/AIDS epidemic was starting to get the attention from healthcare professionals and the public. For more than 30 years, he's worked with patients afflicted with the disease, and he’s researching a vaccine for HIV.

Dr. Rios, who now works for UTHealth, presented his most recent proposal for an HIV vaccine at a meeting of the American Society of Microbiology.

He tells Houston Matters' Maggie Martin about the earliest days of the epidemic.