Category Archives: In the News

A glimpse into the history of Pittsburgh’s gay bar scene

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

In the early 1980s, about a dozen of Pittsburgh’s gay bar and bathhouse owners formed an association, the Tavern Guild, under leadership of the late Chuck Tierney. The group’s original purpose was to discuss issues ranging from police raids to what glassware to buy, said Honse, one of its last living original members.

As time went on, the Pittsburgh Tavern Guild gained political power, Honse said. It began hosting fundraisers for a slew of causes, especially HIV research and aid. In 1985, the Frank Borelli AIDS Fund was established. By 1998, over $93,843 had been raised for and distributed to people living with AIDS and their families, and for AIDS education and prevention efforts.

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Pitt Men’s Study update: 40th Anniversary edition newsletter

What started back in 1983, as the first NIH-funded research regarding the virus that became known as HIV, the Pitt Men’s Study continues to evolve. Now entering their 40^th year of dedicated research, the study looks back at the long road that got us to where we are today as well as looking ahead to an eventual cure.

Find out more in the Pitt Men’s Study 40th Anniversary Newsletter.

Longest running study of HIV survivors is marking its 40th anniversary this year

From The NIH National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute:

In the 1980s, infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was often viewed as a death sentence. With no treatments available and little understanding of the virus or the disease, hundreds of thousands of people in the United States ultimately lost their lives and millions more died worldwide.

Much has changed in the past four decades. Thanks to the availability of powerful antiretroviral drugs, new infections have decreased significantly, the virus is held at low levels in the body, and the HIV death rate has plummeted. People living with HIV are now more likely to die of a chronic illness, such as cardiovascular disease, than from AIDS. Meanwhile, researchers continue to make inroads in finding an effective vaccine or even a cure.

Now, this year, another milestone: the nation’s largest and longest running study of HIV survivors is marking its 40th anniversary.

The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) launched in 1984 to help shed light on how AIDS was affecting gay and bisexual men living with or at risk for HIV. Over the years it enrolled some 7,300 men and eventually merged with the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). That study has focused on the health impact of HIV on nearly 5,000 women living with or at risk for the virus.

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