He was diagnosed with the disease in 1995. Then, after using antiretroviral drugs to stave off HIV for more than a decade, he received another staggering diagnosis: acute myeloid leukemia.
Brown’s doctors decided to use radiation and chemotherapy to wipe out his immune system, then rebuild it with donated stem cells. But they added a game-changing twist to this standard treatment: They deliberately picked a donor who was immune to HIV.
About 1 percent of Caucasians carry a gene mutation that triggers this immunity. In scientific terms, this means their cells don’t have CCR5, a protein that opens the door for HIV to enter blood cells. For Brown, it meant a new chance at life.
Brown received two stem cell transplants that knocked out his cancer and transferred the genetic variation to his immune system.
“It’s an incredible feeling – like a miracle,” he said. “I had two lethal diseases and was able to get rid of both of them.”
Now Brown, who was born in Seattle, heads the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation.
