"People have simply done analyses wrong as to whether intervention [testing] is likely to be [helpful]," Kleiman says. He adds that in the past, studies have simply reported whether people have tested positive for AIDS symptoms. There is no reason to assume that those who have will practice safe sex procedures, Kleiman says, and policies must be designed to convince them to do so.

Problems like these will also concern scholars at the Law School, according to Professor of Law Lance M. Liebman, who is coordinating AIDS research there. "There will be lots of legal issues in the area of treatment and finance," Liebman says, adding that these issues will become more dominant as medical research continues.

The Beginnings

The Institute was conceived more than one year ago by SPH Dean Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg '67, who says it will create an organized forum to bring together specialists on all aspects of the disease and establish a think tank for experimentation and policy making.

"AIDS is almost all-encompassing in the health field and hits on so many dimensions in society," Fineberg says. "I think a university like Harvard really has a responsibility to respond--we've got a capacity to bring together experts from all the related fields."

The Institute is divided into five branches which deal with policy and education, clinical care, disease epidemiology, the monitoring the internal health of victims and the study of new biological approaches to AIDS.

"The [Institute] will try to bring together the people in different parts of the University whose skills are in the areas that we must call upon to address these difficulties," Hiatt says.