Max Essex

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Myron 'Max' Essex
Max Essex in Botswana, July 2007
Born	Myron Elmer Essex (1937-08-17) 17 August 1937 (age 87) Coventry, Rhode Island
Nationality	American
Other names	Myron Essex, Max Essex
Citizenship	United States
Education	Doctorate of veterinary medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 1967; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, 1970.
Alma mater	Michigan State University (DVM, 1967), University of California, Davis (1970, PhD)
Occupation(s)	Virologist, veterinarian, professor of immunology and public health
Years active	? to present
Employer	Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Known for	showed that a retrovirus caused immune suppression; scientific research relating to transmission of retroviruses and their links to certain diseases in both animals and human beings. Work in Immunology and infectious disease (specifically retroviruses and HIV/AIDS) Linked animal and human retroviruses to immunosuppressive disease Suspected that a retrovirus was the cause of AIDS Determined that HIV could be transmitted through blood and blood products to hemophiliacs and to recipients of blood transfusions. Helped provide first evidence that HIV could be transmitted by heterosexual intercourse.
Spouse	Dr. Elizabeth Essex
Children	2 adult daughters; 5 grandchildren
Awards	Ten (10) honorary degrees Elected member, Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences (now NASEM) Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology HIV Lifetime Achievement Award for Scientific Contributions from Institute of Human Virology (IHV), University of Maryland School of Medicine, November 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award, AIDS Society of India, 2014

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,^[1] chair of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health AIDS Initiative (HAI) in the department of immunology and infectious diseases,^[2] and chair of the Botswana–Harvard AIDS Institute in Gaborone, Botswana. Essex was one of the first to link animal and human retroviruses to immunosuppressive disease, to suspect that a retrovirus was the cause of AIDS, and to determine that HIV could be transmitted through blood and blood products to hemophiliacs and recipients of blood transfusions. With collaborators, Essex also provided the first evidence that HIV could be transmitted by heterosexual intercourse.

In 1984, Essex identified gp120, 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, as well as HIV-2. Since 1986, he has developed programs for AIDS collaboration in Senegal, Thailand, Botswana, India, Mexico, and China. 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.