IN MEMORIAM: Dr John P. Phair

The IAS-USA is deeply saddened by the passing of John P. Phair, MD, on February 19, 2024.

John P. Phair, MD, Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, was the first recipient of the International AIDS Society–USA (IAS–USA) Lifetime Leadership Award. He was honored on April 19, 2010, at the IAS–USA annual continuing medical education course in Chicago, IL.

The IAS–USA Lifetime Leadership Award, in the area of scientific and academic mentorship and leadership, was presented to recognize and pay tribute to those individuals who have made substantial and lasting contributions to the field of HIV medicine and research and to HIV physician education and training to improve the treatment and care for HIV-infected people.

Dr Phair was recognized for his outstanding knowledge, exemplary leadership, and inspiration to researchers and clinicians in the field of HIV. He was also recognized for 18 years of noteworthy and sustained contributions as chair of the IAS–USA Improving the Management of HIV Disease annual continuing medical education course in Chicago.

Dr Phair has played a prominent part in the field of HIV, serving as a role model through his remarkable service, research, and teaching. Following his graduation from Yale University, Dr Phair attended the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine and infectious disease at Yale New Haven Hospital and joined the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1967. He was recognized for his important contributions to leadership while heading the Division of Infectious Disease and the Samuel J. Sackett Laboratories at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University from 1976 until 2000. Among his notable achievements, he has worked with the National Institutes of Health-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases–funded Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS), now in its 27th year, clarifying the natural history of HIV infection. He established the NIAID-funded Chicago Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Unit in 1987 and served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group during the period when therapy moved from its infancy to its current level of effectiveness. Dr Phair chaired the NIAID AIDS Research Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2002. He received the prestigious John Phillips Memorial Award from the American College of Physicians for distinguished contributions in clinical medicine in 2005.