[Letter to Tim Westboreland from Spencer Cox]

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Consequently, there is a pressing need for a targeted research program designed to answer
specific questions about the pathogenesis of AIDS, and to build a more complicated model for
HIV infection and disease, incorporating all of our information about these systemic
abnormalities in immune function. This kind of program should eventually help us to identify
potential areas for therapeutic intervention in the pathogenic processes, and to speed our search
for effective treatments.
As I am sure you know, the benefits of targeted research on the immune system have
significance far beyond the search for AIDS therapies. I can at best refer you to the 1990
survey by the Congressional Office of Technical Assessment, which found that most scientists
believed that AIDS research had made significant contributions to our understanding of
immunology, molecular biology and other key fields of scientific inquiry. Not only will a
targeted, basic biomedical research program on the pathogenesis of AIDS help us to increase the
number and quality of therapies to treat the disease, it will also shed light on a variety of other
immune-system diseases, and on the immune response to disease in general.
For your further information, I am enclosing a 1990 working document written by Dr. Joseph
Sonnabend, CRIA's Medical Director, for the Basic Science Subcommittee of ACT UP/NY's
Treatment and Data Committee. This document describes in detail a number of unexplained
phenomena associated with IV infection, with references to the scientific literature.
Unfortunately, this document was never completed, due to Dr. Sonnabend's serious time
restraints, however if you find the piece useful, I would be happy to work with Dr. Sonnabend
to provide any information that might be helpful.
I feel that the program I propose is perhaps one of the most important priorities for our nation's
response to AIDS. The constraints imposed on our federal prevention programs, with which I
am sure you are familiar, have allowed hundreds of thousands of Americans to become infected
with HIV. We must act quickly and rationally to expand our understanding of the disease, and
to develop new therapies if we are to have any hope of keeping those now infected alive and
healthy.
As a long-time admirer of your work, I am heartened by your inclusion in President-elect
Clinton's transition committee. I hope this letter will be of some assistance as you consider the
recommendations that you will make to the committee, and to our new President.
Sincerely,
Spencer Cox
Public Affairs Associate

CC: Larry Kramer