A Brief History of ARA

AIDS Research Alliance was founded by people who combined scientific rigor with activist urgency to transform a grassroots alliance of physicians into one of the leading nonprofit AIDS research organizations in the country.

By 1989, AIDS had ravaged an entire generation of young men and women throughout the world, most of them in the prime of their lives.  Ninety thousand people had already died and 150,000 people had been diagnosed with AIDS.  In the summer of that year, Paul Rothman, a leading Los Angeles physician, and Matthew Rushton, a noted Hollywood producer, (both infected with HIV) responded to the crisis by pioneering a revolutionary way to conduct medical research in the U.S.

Dr. Rothman and Mr. Rushton formed an alliance of AIDS physicians with the intent of pooling their data and identifying the most promising experimental regimens. This idea evolved into the development of a formal clinical research program guided by prospective clinical research protocols that were implemented in the private practices of Alliance physicians. The small AIDS Research Alliance (originally named Search Alliance) staff designed “proof-of-concept” studies, coordinated data collection, analyzed and disseminated results, that provided the first answers to whether compounds in widespread use were beneficial in treating HIV.  This community-based research model demonstrated the impact of these compounds on a small number of participants for shorter periods of time, costing less money than traditional research models yet gleaning significant results. 

 In 1995, the next major evolution of ARA occurred. The organization centralized all clinical research activities in one location. This allowed ARA to identify and manage scientific, clinical and organizational strategies with a staff of dedicated research professionals, while maintaining affiliations with physicians, scientists and academics in the vanguard of HIV research. Today, ARA works with numerous large and small pharmaceutical companies, as well as academic and government scientists, in the advancement of its mission to cure AIDS.

This innovative research business model – independent research supported in part by sponsored clinical trials – has made it possible for AIDS Research Alliance to succeed as a community-based, nonprofit medical research organization specializing in HIV/AIDS.

ARA's independent drug development and clinical research programs are now focused on several core areas including strategies for eliminating HIV viral reservoirs, identifying and developing anti-HIV drugs that inhibit the virus in novel ways, and developing medical approaches – like microbicides and vaccines – that prevent the further spread of HIV.

Since its formation, AIDS Research Alliance has participated in research leading to FDA approval of nearly half of the current anti-HIV medications and other compounds that fight the metabolic disorders that accompany HIV.  Research at ARA has also shown that inexpensive complementary therapies can play a critical role in clinical outcome. ARA engages in the full spectrum of HIV research – from vitamins to state of the art drug development – to improve the health of those living with HIV/AIDS and to stop the spread of HIV.

Back to Top