Martin Delaney December 9, 1945 - January 23, 2009

Martin Delaney passed away on January 23, 2009 from liver cancer surrounded by close friends and family members.

Martin, the founder and longtime director of the HIV advocacy/education organization Project Inform, had just been presented with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAIAD) Director's Special Recognition Award for his many contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Delaney in 1985 founded Project Inform, a leading national HIV treatment and public policy information and advocacy organization based in San Francisco, and served as its Director until 2008.

He was a member of the NAIAD AIDS Research Advisory Committee from 1991 to 1995, served on Naiad's National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Disease Council from 1995 to 1998, and also has served in other advisory roles for the Institute.



The NAIAD Director's Special Recognition Award cites Mr. Delaney's "extraordinary contributions to framing the HIV research agenda, particularly with regard to antiretroviral drugs and access to treatment; exceptional efforts on behalf of HIV-infected people; and wise counsel while serving on NIAID advisory committees."

"Millions of people are now receiving life saving antiretroviral medications from a treatment pipeline that Marty Delaney played a key role in opening and expanding," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. "Without his tireless work and vision, many more people would have perished from HIV/AIDS."

Delaney was one of the founders of the community based HIV research movement and, through his work at Project Inform, led the way to HIV treatment education becoming widely available to patients and medical providers. He was a leader of the movement to accelerate Food and Drug Administration approval of promising drugs and a key player in the development of today's widely used Accelerated Approval regulations and Parallel Track system for providing experimental drugs to seriously ill people preceding formal FDA approval.

In recent years, among many other activities, Mr. Delaney has led the Fair Pricing Coalition to improve the accessibility of HIV medications, and has advocated for an aggressive research agenda to find a cure for AIDS.

Martin Delaney is one of the principal architects of an enlightened response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and has preserved and improved the quality of life for countless individuals. He is the Founder of Project Inform, one of the nation’s most respected non-profit agencies working in HIV/AIDS. Martin helped to lead Project Inform from its inception in 1985 until January of 2008.

He has been a constructive critic of federal, academic, and industry AIDS research efforts, and a key figure in helping to bring effective HIV treatments to market. He is a leader of the movement to accelerate FDA approval of promising drugs and was a key player in the development of today’s widely used Accelerated Approval regulations and Parallel Track system for providing experimental drugs to seriously ill people preceding formal approval by the FDA. He was one of the founders of the community-based HIV research movement and, through Project Inform, led the way to an unprecedented level of HIV treatment education becoming available to patients and medical providers.

Martin has been a featured voice in the media and at scientific conferences on AIDS related topics. His writings have appeared in prestigious medical publications including The Journal of Infectious Diseases and the Journal of AIDS, as well as a number of popular magazines. He is the co-author of Strategies for Survival, The Gay Men’s Health Manual for the Age of AIDS and editor of the Project Inform HIV Drug Book. His work and the history of Project Inform have been described in several books, including Acceptable Risks, by Jonathan Kwitney, Against the Odds by Peter Arno and Good Intentions by Bruce Nussbaum.

Over the last 23 years, Martin has spoken before more community, government, and industry groups on AIDS treatment and research issues than any other activist or political figure. He has served on many AIDS related local and national boards and prominent government advisory groups. He currently leads the Fair Pricing Coalition, which presses industry to assure that HIV medications are accessible and he is the Chair of the Board of the Foundation for AIDS and Immune Research, which makes grants to support promising HIV related research.

For further information about Martin Delaney or Project Inform, please contact Ryan Clary at 415-558-8669 or rclary@projectinform.org.

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On a personal note, Martin was one of my very early friends with HIV in San Francisco. He was also one of my heroes and mentors who guided me in my life of HIV/AIDS activism. Martin will be greatly missed by our entire community.

Our sympathy and condolences go out to his family, friends and coworkers at Project Inform.