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Richard Marlink
 As a medical oncologist, hematologist and laboratory scientist, Dr. Richard Marlink has been involved in supporting and implementing epidemiological studies in Africa and other resource-scarce settings since 1985. Part of the team that initially identified HIV-2, the second AIDS virus, he became involved in laboratory research at the Harvard School of Public Health and in epidemiologic and clinical studies in Senegal, West Africa. In Senegal, he helped coordinate studies concerning the clinical and biological characteristics of both HIV-1 and HIV-2 in that region. In addition to serving in various teaching and clinical capacities, Dr. Marlink has also directed efforts at the Harvard School of Public Health that have provided clinical and laboratory training and support to investigations involving populations in Botswana, Brazil, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand.
As Executive Director of HAI, Dr. Marlink has been responsible for the evaluation and coordination of AIDS research and training programs for developing countries and disenfranchised populations. In this role, he has organized numerous policy and educational programs to address the care and treatment needs of HIV/AIDS patients. For example, Dr. Marlink has served as the course director for the Arthur Ashe Program in AIDS Care at Harvard. This fourth year, minority medical student rotation is competed for nationally each year and involves medical students visiting Harvard clinical sites and Tuskegee University to pair with mentors for an intense clinical and research fellowship.
As Senior Research Director, Dr. Marlink is the principal investigator of the Enhancing Care Initiative. Supported by the Merck Company Foundation and the Heath Resources and Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services, this initiative is creating multi-disciplinary AIDS care teams in various developing countries to determine ways to enhance the clinical care of HIV-infected individuals. In Botswana, Dr. Marlink helped to create the Botswana–HAI Partnership for HIV Research and Education. Through this partnership the Government of Botswana and HAI have worked together to combat the AIDS epidemic in Botswana. Under his direction, HAI, working with the Botswana Ministry of Health, launched an educational program, the KITSO AIDS Training Program, to train Botswana's health professionals to care for those affected by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Training courses in this program address issues such as antiretroviral therapy; HIV/AIDS-related disease management; gender-specific HIV issues; supportive and palliative care; and various psychosocial and counseling themes.
Through the Botswana–HAI Partnership, Dr. Marlink is involved as principal investigator of the first large-scale antiretroviral treatment study in Botswana. This study will help determine the rate of HIV drug resistance and characterization of viral mutations in HIV-1 subtype C, the subtype of HIV in Southern Africa. In a factorial design, the study will also randomize patients to determine whether intensive clinic-based follow up of patients or intensive clinic-based follow up with added community-based Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) will be superior for medication adherence in this African setting. Dr. Marlink is also co-investigator in a variety of other clinical studies examining questions related to genomic and immunologic analysis of HIV-1C; prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1C during breastfeeding; cost-effectiveness of various interventions in Africa; and issues related to African traditional medicine practices during treatment with antiretroviral medication. He currently has applied to the NIH for the Botswana–Harvard clinic and laboratory site in Botswana to become an International Clinical Trials Unit with the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group.
Dr. Marlink participated in the creation of a unique public-private partnership and $100 million commitment from the Gates and Merck Foundations to Botswana. This commitment provides comprehensive support to AIDS prevention and care efforts in Botswana. He serves on the Board of Directors of the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP), the entity created to implement this commitment in Botswana.
Dr. Marlink is the co-author or sole author of over 50 scientific articles, as well as the author or co-author of numerous book chapters. He was a contributor and editor to the recent book AIDS In Africa, 2nd Edition.
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