Mathilde Krim

• Born: July 9, 1926
• Birthplace: Como, Italy
• Died: January 15, 2018
• Place of death: Kings Point, New York

Dr. Mathilde Krim was one of the world's first medical researchers to learn about AIDS, and was a leading authority on the disease. She was the founding chairman of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, and spent more than two decades promoting research, education, and prevention of AIDS and HIV. Krim earned many accolades for her work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.

Early Years

Mathilde (Galland) Krim was born July 9, 1926, in Como, Italy, and spent her childhood in Italy and Switzerland. She was educated at Switzerland's University of Geneva, earning her bachelor's degree in 1948 and doctorate in 1953. Growing up in Europe during World War II, Krim was appalled by the treatment of Jews by Nazi Germany. While in college she joined Irgun, a militant Zionist organization. She also converted to Judaism and moved to Israel in 1953 with her first husband, David Danon, and infant daughter, Daphna.

From 1953 to 1959, Krim worked at the Weizmann Institute of Science at Rehovot, Israel. At the institute, Krim was a member of the research team that developed the first method of determining gender pre-birth. Her marriage to Danon soon ended in divorce, and in 1958 she married American Arthur Krim, president of United Artists. Krim moved to New York City in 1959 and worked at Cornell Medical College until 1962. That year, she became a researcher at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Krim eventually became head of the center's interferon laboratory. Her work at the lab would lead her to a major discovery, and her life's crusade.

AIDS Research Pioneer

In 1980, Krim and her fellow scientists at Sloan-Kettering examined chronically enlarged lymph nodes and immunological abnormalities in otherwise healthy gay men. As they delved deeper into their research, they discovered that these were symptoms of what was soon named acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Among the scientists' discoveries was that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, typically gestates for about ten years before symptoms of the disease are noticed. With this finding, Krim knew the AIDS epidemic had been brewing for many years before its discovery, and began lobbying for federal research funding before most people had even heard of AIDS.

In 1983, with financial backing from her husband, Krim founded the AIDS Medical Foundation. She began lobbying for federal funds and public donations for research on a disease so few knew about. At first, Krim had difficulty gaining support for the fight against AIDS, largely perceived to be limited to gay people and intravenous drug users. In 1984, the foundation received its first research grants and began its campaign to inform legislators and educate the public on facts and myths about AIDS.

In 1985, Krim left Sloan-Kettering, where she had directed the interferon lab for four years. The same year, the AIDS Medical Foundation merged with the National AIDS Research Foundation in Los Angeles to form the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). Funded mainly through donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, amfAR has raised more than $200 million to promote AIDS research, education, and prevention, and has provided grant money to nearly two thousand research teams internationally. AmfAR has become legendary for its notorious fundraising galas and support from celebrities, most notably actor Elizabeth Taylor.

In addition to her work with amfAR, Krim was an adjunct professor of public health and management at Columbia University. From 1986 to 1990, Krim worked in the department of pediatrics at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, at Columbia.

Krim died at her home in Kings Point, New York, on January 15, 2018, at the age of ninety-one. She is survived by her daughter, Daphna, a sister, and two grandchildren.

Advocacy Positions and Recognition

Krim's research on AIDS made her arguably the disease's leading public advocate. She continued to promote interferon in AIDS treatment, and she was a staunch supporter of needle-exchange programs for intravenous drug users, arguing that such programs do not encourage drug use. With prevention a high priority, Krim supported condom distribution in schools and is pushing research for a reliable AIDS vaccination. She lobbied legislators to allow people with HIV to enter the United States legally. She also publicly spoken out against theorists who believe HIV does not cause AIDS.

Krim received many awards for her work in AIDS research, including several honorary doctorates from colleges and universities. In 2000, she received a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. In 2015, Columbia University established the Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair of Global Health endowed professorship within the Mailman School of Public Health in her honor.

Bibliography

"ICAP Remembers Global Health Champion Dr. Mathilde Krim." ICAP, Columbia University, 16 Jan. 2018, icap.columbia.edu/news-events/detail/icap-remembers-global-health-champion-dr.-mathilde-krim. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.

Ivry, Benjamin. "Mathilde Krim Was the Oskar Schindler of the War against AIDS." Forward, 18 Jan. 2018, forward.com/culture/392355/mathilde-krim-was-the-oskar-schindler-of-the-war-against-aids/. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.

Johnson, George. "Dr. Krim's Crusade." The New York Times, 14 Feb. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/02/14/magazine/dr-krim-s-crusade.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.

Marble, Steve. "Mathilde Krim, Who Galvanized Worldwide Support in the Fight against AIDS, Dies at 91." Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2018, www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-mathilde-krim-20180117-story.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.

McFadden, Robert D. "Mathilde Krim, Mobilizing Force in an AIDS Crusade, Dies at 91." The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/obituaries/mathilde-krim-mobilizing-force-in-an-aids-crusade-dies-at-91.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2018.