Pharmacy Alumna’s Research Combats HIV

Pharmacist Ana I. Martinez ’68P spent her entire career in multiple areas of clinical research including  infectious diseases most notably HIV/AIDS. “Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of my work,” she said, “has been helping transform HIV/AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable disease.”

Her work has won recognition from her colleagues. Most recently, Ms. Martinez received the André Bédat Award, the highest accolade for pharmaceutical practice bestowed by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), the global organization representing three million practitioners and scientists worldwide. The award specifically recognized her contributions to international HIV/AIDS clinical research, especially developing and implementing a model in which pharmacists play a direct role in all phases of the clinical trial.

“The award is a great honor,” she said. “It represents the culmination of all my efforts. I wanted to make a difference in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which I viewed as the plague of my lifetime. Working with investigators and pharmacists all over the world has been the most satisfying experience.”

Ms. Martinez credits the education she received at St. John’s with providing a solid basis for her career. Faculty were supportive and inspiring, she noted, especially Andrew J. Bartilucci, Ph.D. ’44P ’98HON, Dean Emeritus of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and Hugh Luongo ’32PhG, ’33PhC, ’35BS, a Professor of Chemistry. “They instilled in me an appreciation of pharmacy, an understanding of what an important profession it is, and a regard for patient care—which I have had all my life.”

As a child in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ms. Martinez gained an interest in the field through her father, who ran a pharmacy there. Her decision to attend St. John’s was based on the reputation of its pharmacy program. By then, she was living in New York and was happy she didn’t need to relocate.

Upon graduation, she worked at The Rockefeller University, assuming positions of increasing responsibility until she was named Director of the Pharmacy Department. Ms. Martinez subsequently served as Director of Pharmacy and Clinic Operations at the Medlantic Research Foundation, in Washington, D.C. Several years later, she was named Chief of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Branch at the Division of AIDS of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.

Ms. Martinez is most proud of her contributions to landmark studies that led to the licensure of various HIV medications. They included  the clinical trial that proved Zidovudine’s effectiveness  in reducing HIV transmission from mother to infant;  the study demonstrating  that Truvada can prevent HIV acquisition;  and a project  that showed how treating   an HIV-infected member of a couple can reduce transmission to the uninfected partner by 93 percent.

“St. John's prepared me for this work as it was starting to change from a distributive profession to one directly involved in patient care,” she explained. “I don’t think I would have enjoyed this success without a St. John's education.”