Julio Montaner, Immediate Past President, Canada Julio Montaner, MD, DSc (hon), FRCPC, FCCP, FACP, FRSC, is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He received his MD with Honors from the University of Buenos Aires in 1979. In 1981, he joined the University of British Columbia at St. Paul’s Hospital where he completed his residency training. In 1988, he became the Director of the AIDS Research Program & the Immunodeficiency Clinic. In the mid 90’s, he played a key role in establishing the efficacy of NNRTI based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which is now the standard of care in HIV/AIDS. His current research interests include HAART as prevention, optimal use of HAART, salvage therapy, new antiretrovirals, as well as hard-to-reach populations and harm reduction. He is a Professor of Medicine and has held the Endowed Char in AIDS Research at St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of British Columbia since 1996. He is a founding Co-Director of the Canadian HIV Trials Network. He is the Director of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and, in 2007, became the Head of the Division of AIDS, the first academic division in Canada. He has been a member of the International AIDS Society since 1988, an elected member of its North American Region since 2002 and its President (2008-2010). He has received numerous awards including an inaugural Avant Garde Award ($2.5 million over 5 years) from NIDA (NIH) in 2008 and the CIHR Knowledge Translation Award in 2009. Most recently, Dr. Montaner was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and received a Doctor of Science-honoris causa degree from Simon Fraser University. He has authored over 400 scientific publications on HIV/AIDS. .