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175 Makers of History: Dennis Liotta, Raymond Schinazi, and Woo-Baeg Choi

Dennis Liotta, Raymond Schinazi, and Woo-Baeg Choi
Inventors of Emtriva, AIDS Medication

More than 90 percent of people in the U.S. and many around the world who are on medication for HIV/AIDS take antiretroviral drugs developed at Emory.

In the early 1990s, chemistry professor Dennis Liotta (at left in photo), pediatrics professor Raymond Schinazi (at right in photo), and researcher Woo-Baeg Choi codeveloped the molecules 3TC and FTC, which help to prevent or delay HIV from replicating and infecting other cells. After continued work, FTC -- or Emtriva ("Em" for Emory) -- and 3TC were recommended by the World Health Organization as part of a first-line drug treatment regimen.

Atripla, a combination of Emtriva and two other previously approved drugs, now enables many patients to take just one pill a day, down from ten to fifteen pills a decade ago.