March 2008
Timothy Ray Brown Becomes First Person Cured of HIV
Health
Timothy Ray Brown, known as 'The Berlin Patient', became the first person cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor with two copies of the CCR5-delta32 mutation, which confers natural resistance to HIV. Brown stopped antiretroviral medication and HIV became undetectable. He revealed his identity publicly in 2010 and remained HIV-free until his death from leukaemia in September 2020.
Impact & Significance
Proved that HIV cure was possible, transforming research priorities and inspiring the scientific pursuit of a broadly applicable cure.
Reference Record
- Date
- March 2008
- Era
- 2000-2009
- Sources
- 1
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Questions This Event Helps Answer
Q How did HIV/AIDS change public health and activism? HIV/AIDS changed public health by forcing faster surveillance, treatment approval, community-led prevention, visible memorialisation and international awareness. Q How did equality law change public services and workplaces? It moved LGBTQ+ equality into services, employment, schools and official data rather than leaving it only as criminal-law reform. Q How did HIV blood policy and cure research change LGBTQ+ history? They shifted HIV history from crisis response toward care access, evidence-based blood policy and scientific proof that cure was possible in rare cases.
