Margaret Fischl is an American physician,

HIV/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 ...

researcher, and professor of medicine at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

. She is notable for being one of the first researchers to discover the effectiveness of the

antiretroviral The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of mu ...

medication azidothymidine (AZT) in treating patents with HIV/AIDS, as well as for helping build the University of Miami's AIDS Clinical Research Unit, of which she served as director. Fischl attended the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she earned her

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

in 1976, and later served her

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital, also referred to as Jackson or abbreviated MJMH, is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, and the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine. As of 2021, it is the largest hospital in t ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. During AZT's controversial approval process in the United States as the first drug available to combat HIV/AIDS, many saw Fischl as the "face" of the drug and that of its manufacturer,

Burroughs Wellcome GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

, and she was the subject of criticism and scrutiny by

AIDS activists The 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 preventable disease. It can ...

who were deeply suspicious of the drug's

effectiveness Effectiveness or effectivity is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Et ...

and

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacteria, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect o ...

. However, AZT has since been added to the

World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (aka Essential Medicines List or EML), published by the World Health Organization (WHO), contains the medications considered to be most effective and safe to meet the most important needs in a health s ...

and is a component of many HIV/AIDS combination therapies today.

References

Living people HIV/AIDS researchers American medical researchers University of Miami alumni University of Miami faculty Date of birth unknown Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-physician-stub