Margaret Fischl is an American physician,

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

researcher, and professor of medicine at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. She is notable for being one of the first researchers to discover the effectiveness of the

antiretroviral The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multipl ...

medication

azidothymidine Zidovudine (ZDV), also known as azidothymidine (AZT), is an antiretroviral medication used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. It is generally recommended for use in combination with other antiretrovirals. It may be used to prevent mother-to-child ...

(AZT) in treating patents with HIV/AIDS, as well as for helping build the University of Miami's AIDS Clinical Research Unit, of which she served as director. Fischl attended the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, from which she earned her

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

in 1976, and later served her

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital (also known as "Jackson" or abbreviated "MJMH") is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine, and the largest hospital in the United States with 1,5 ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. During AZT's controversial approval process in the United States as the first drug available to combat HIV/AIDS, many saw Fischl as the "face" of the drug and that of its manufacturer,

Burroughs Wellcome GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the tent ...

, and she was the subject of criticism and scrutiny by

AIDS activists Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

who were deeply suspicious of the drug's

effectiveness Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...

and

toxicity Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

. However, AZT has since been added to the

World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines The WHO Model List of Essential Medicines (aka Essential Medicines List or EML), published by the World Health Organization (WHO), contains the medications considered to be most effective and safe to meet the most important needs in a health ...

and is a component of many HIV/AIDS combination therapies today.

References

Living people HIV/AIDS researchers American medical researchers University of Miami alumni University of Miami faculty Date of birth unknown Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-physician-stub