Myron Elmer "Max" Essex (born August 17, 1939) is the Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, emeritus in the department of immunology and infectious diseases at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, chair of the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

AIDS Initiative (HAI) in the department of immunology and infectious diseases, and chair of the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. Essex was one of the first to link animal and human

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. After invading a host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase e ...

es to

immunosuppressive Immunosuppression is a reduction of the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immunosuppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse react ...

disease, to suspect that a retrovirus was the cause of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, and to determine that

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

could be transmitted through blood and blood products to

hemophilia Haemophilia (British English), or hemophilia (American English) (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a long ...

cs and recipients of blood transfusions. With collaborators, Essex also provided the first evidence that HIV could be transmitted by

heterosexual Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...

intercourse. In 1984, Essex identified

gp120 Envelope glycoprotein GP120 (or gp120) is a glycoprotein exposed on the surface of the HIV envelope. It was discovered by Professors Tun-Hou Lee and Myron "Max" Essex of the Harvard School of Public Health in 1984. The 120 in its name comes f ...

, the virus surface protein that is used worldwide for blood screening, HIV detection, and epidemiological monitoring. With collaborators, including African microbiologist Souleymane Mboup, he discovered the first

simian immunodeficiency virus Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is a species of retrovirus that cause persistent infections in at least 45 species of non-human primates. Based on analysis of strains found in four species of monkeys from Bioko Island, which was isolated fr ...

, as well as

HIV-2 The subtypes of HIV include two main subtypes, known as HIV type 1 (HIV-1) and HIV type 2 (HIV-2). These subtypes have distinct genetic differences and are associated with different epidemiological patterns and clinical characteristics. HIV-1 ex ...

. Since 1986, he has developed programs for AIDS collaboration in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In 1996, Essex helped establish the Botswana–Harvard Partnership for HIV Research and Education (now the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute). This is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health in Botswana and HAI.

Biography

Essex was born in

Coventry, Rhode Island Coventry is a town in Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 35,688 at the 2020 census and is part of the . Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of . of it is land and of it (4.49%) is wate ...

in 1939. Essex earned his DVM from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

in 1967. He earned his Ph.D. from

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, in 1970. He has been married to Elizabeth Essex since 1967. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.Henry MS. Max Essex: The Persistent Investigator. March 11, 2016. HAI Blog. Spotlight, Winter 2016.
/ref> Essex holds ten

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

s and 15 patents and has received the

Lasker Award In 1945 Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker created the Lasker Awards. Every year since then the award has been given to the living person considered to have made the greatest contribution to medical science or who has demonstrated public ser ...

, the highest medical research award given in the United States, jointly with

Robert Gallo Robert Charles Gallo (; born March 23, 1937) is an American biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in establishing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( ...

and

Luc Montagnier Luc Montagnier ( , ; 18 August 1932 – 8 February 2022) was a French virologist and joint recipient, with and , of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV). He worked as a rese ...

in 1986. He has published over 500 papers and 12 books, including two editions of ''AIDS in Africa'' (), and his latest, ''Saturday Is for Funerals'' (). Essex has worked in twelve (12) different nations as a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

and

virologist Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focuses on their detection, structure, classification and evolution, their methods of infection and exploitation of host cells for reproduction, the ...

: Botswana, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Nigeria, Senegal, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, U.S., Zaire. His 45 years of working papers, the Myron Essex papers, 1949–1996, are archived in the Countway Library's Center for the History of Medicine through funding by a Hidden Collections grant from the

Harvard University Library Harvard Library is the network of libraries and services at Harvard University, a private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Library is the oldest library system in the United States and both the largest academic librar ...

(HUL) within the Maximizing Microbiology: Molecular Genetics, Cancer, and Virology, 1936-2000 project. In addition to the Myron Essex papers (1949–1996), the project has already led to the processing of collections of several other microbiologists, including those of Bernard D. Davis, Arthur B. Pardee, Francesc Duran i Reynals, and Luigi Gorini. Essex serves on the Library's Archives Committee. In 2018 Dr. Essex announced his retirement plans. He has been the primary mentor to eighty (80) postdocs and to 34 doctoral students. He has authored 629 research papers, forty (40) of which have been published in ''Science'' or ''Nature''.

Awards

* Elected member, Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS, now NASEM) * Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology * HIV Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions from the Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, November 2011Henry MS. Essex Receives Lifetime Achievement Award. December 1, 2011. HAI Blog
/ref> * Lifetime Achievement Award, AIDS Society of India, 2014 (in Kolkata). The plaque reads “For his exemplary contribution towards research in HIV/AIDS and for his outstanding leadership in public health.”

Awards named for Max Essex

* Essex Fellowship for Students from Africa,

, annually since 2007

References

External links

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty page for Myron 'Max' Essex, DVM
''Science Watch'', May 1993

''Harvard Public Health Review'', Spring/Summer 2011
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health AIDS Initiative list of Associated ResearchersAnnouncement of 1988 founding of HAI, the Harvard AIDS Institute
- "Bok named Myron (Max) Essex, a virologist at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), to lead the Institute. According to Essex, “HAI was the brainchild of Harvey Fineberg,” who was HSPH Dean at the time."
Harvard Catalyst Profile Page for Max EssexHarvard AIDS Institute Profile Page for Max EssexCoup E. Processing of the Myron “Max” Essex papers has begun. March 2, 2016. Website of Center for the History of Medicine at Countway Library.

Myron Essex Papers, 1949-1996 (inclusive), 1965-1996 (bulk). H MS c466. Harvard Medical Library, Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex, Max American virologists Living people American public health doctors Michigan State University alumni University of California, Davis alumni 1939 births HIV/AIDS researchers Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award American veterinarians Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty Botswana–United States relations 20th-century American scientists 21st-century scientists Members of the National Academy of Medicine