[Letter to Barry Conway from Jon Cohen]

TO: BARRY CONWAY
FROM: JON COHEN
March 13, 1992
Dear Mr. Conway,
I did a story for NPR's weekend Sunday show March 8 that I
thought might interest you. The 12-minute story is about HIV
vaccine therapy--AIDS vaccines being tested in people who are
already infected with the virus.
After introducing an infected man who is takinq part in the trial
of an HIV vaccine, I explain what they are and how they differ
from the preventive vaccines most people think of when they think
vaccine. Dr. Jonas Salk of polio vaccine fame, the first to
publicly raise the idea of HIV vaccine therapy, then discusses
his views on the topic, including the early resistance he met. I
follow with a little vaccine therapy history from one of the
world's biqgest buffs on the topic, Col. Donald Burke, the Army
doctor who heads the U.S. military's AIDS proqrams. I cut to
congressional testimony Burke gave February 24, urginq more
government support for the approach.
The second half of the story focuses on an HIV vaccine therapy
public forum held in New York City February 25, where six leadinq
scientists discussed their work with 500 people. The scientists
explain the different strategies they are pursuing and their
early results and buddinq optimism. The meeting becomes tense
when infected people take to the mikes, pleadinq for greater
access to these experiments, better qovernment coordination of
AIDS research, and, ultimately, a cure. I bookend the story with
the same man I opened with, who attended the forum.
I am writing a book on AIDS vaccine research for Delacorte Press.
I frequently write about AIDS for Science magazine. I'm faxing a
Village Voice article I did this week about HIV vaccine therapy
and one I did a few months ago for Science.
I hope to hear from you.
Sincerely,
on Cohen
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