Person

Cooper, David Albert (1949 - 2018)

AC

Born
19 April 1949
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died
18 March 2018
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
Advocacy and Immunologist

Summary

David Cooper was a leading HIV clinician and expert. His work included significant contributions to the role of lipodystrophy as a side effect of protease inhibitors and the establishment of multiple HIV and immunology research centres.

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Details

David Cooper's clinical research into HIV has contributed significantly to the identification and treatment of the condition. It was Cooper who gave one of the first diagnosis of HIV in Australia in 1985, after returning from the United States of America where the first official reports on the AIDs epidemic were emerging.

From 1985 David Cooper's primary focus was HIV. He was the inaugural director of the Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society (originally known as the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research) in 1986. He also co-founded international organisations to address HIV in developing countries including HIV-NAT in Thailand and an Infectious Diseases Collaboration between the Kirby Institute and the University of Medicine 2 in Myanmar Burma.

David Cooper also participated in numerous professional associations at an Australian and International level including time as President of the International AIDs Society (1994 -1998) and Chair of the World Health Organisations UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Advisory Committee (1991). His work was not limited to clinical studies but also involved training healthcare workers and advising governments on public health and clinical policy in relation to HIV. His obituaries frequently describe not just his scientific excellence but his compassion and commitment for people affected by HIV and AIDS.

In 2003 David Cooper was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services contribution to medicine and HIV/AIDS research followed by a James Cook Medal for outstanding contribution to Science and Human Welfare, from the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2016.

Chronology

- 1983
Education - Doctor of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia
1972
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc(Hons)), University of Sydney
c. 1972 - c. 1973
Career position - Post Graduate Research Fellow in Immunology, University of New South Wales (with scholarship)
1973 - 2018
Career position - Member, Australian Society of Immunology
1975 - 1976
Career position - Cancer Council Fellow, University of Arizona Health Sciences Centre, University of Arizona, United States of America
1976 - 1979
Award - Australian Postgraduate Scholarship, National Health and Medical Research Council at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
1979 - 1983
Career position - Staff specialist in Immunology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
1986 - 2018
Career position - Inaugural Director, The Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society, University of New South Wales
1987 - 1993
Career position - Member, Editorial Board, AIDS current science
1987 - 2018
Career position - Member, American Association of Immunologists
1988 - ?
Career position - Member, Editorial Board, Journal of acquired deficiency syndromes
1988 -
Career position - Associate Professor of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia
1988 -
Career position - Principal Research Fellow, National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia
1989 - 1993
Career position - Member, International Board of Editors, Journal of infectious diseases
1991 -
Career position - HIV Vaccine Advisory Committee, UNAIDS, World Health Organisation
1991 - 1994
Career position - Chairman, Steering Committee on Clinical Research and Drug Development
1994 - ?
Career position - Director HIV Netherlands, Australia, Thailand Thai Red Cross Program on AIDS, Bangkok
1994 -
Career position - Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia
1994
Award - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of New South Wales, Australia
1994 - 1998
Career position - President, International AIDs Society
1996
Career position - Co-Founder, HIV-NAT, Bangkok, Thailand
1997 - 2000
Career position - Member, Program Committee, Intersc Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemitherapy, American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C.
2003
Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to medicine as a clinician, researcher and leading contributor in the field of HIV/AIDS research, and to the development of new treatment approaches
2004 - 2017
Award - Scientia Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia
2005
Award - Sir William Upjohn Medal, University of Melbourne
2005 - 2012
Career position - Chairman, WHO/UNAIDS HIV Vaccine Advisory Committee
2005 - 2018
Award - Honorary Life Member, International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care
2005 - 2018
Career position - Member, Advisory Board, Journal of HIV therapy: current trends
2005 - 2018
Career position - Co-editor, Current opinions in HIV and AIDS
2006
Career position - Member, Strategic and Technical Advisory Committee for HIV/AIDS, World Health Organisation
2006 - 2009
Career position - Member, Sectional Committee 9, Australian Academy of Science
2007
Career position - Local Conference Chair, International AIDS Society, Sydney
2007 - 2018
Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA)
2008 - 2018
Career position - Consultant Physician, Clinical Services Unit, HIV Immunology/Infectious Diseases, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney
2008 - 2018
Career position - Director, St Vincent's Centre for Applied Medical Research
2014 - 2018
Award - Inaugural Fellow, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
2016
Award - James Cook Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales
2016
Award - John Yu Medal, George Institute for Global Health
2017 - 2018
Career position - Member, Sectional Committee 13 (Microbiology and Immunology), Australian Academy of Science
2018
Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent service to medicine, particularly in the area of HIV/AIDS research, as a clinician, scientist and administrator, to the development of treatment therapies, and to health programs in South East Asia and the Pacific (posthumous)

Related Awards

Related Corporate Bodies

Archival resources

National Library of Australia

  • David Cooper interviewed by Alistair Thomson in the Australian generations oral history project., 1959 - 2013, 220009702; National Library of Australia. Details
  • David Cooper interviewed by Stewart Harris for the Australian response to AIDS oral history project, 22 September 1993 - 20 October 1993, 2170404; National Library of Australia. Details
  • Portrait of Professor David Cooper, Director HIV Medicine Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 1993, 1 [picture] / Stewart Harris, 1993, 151806997; National Library of Australia. Details
  • Portrait of Professor David Cooper, Director HIV Medicine Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 1993, 2 [picture] / Stewart Harris, 1993, 151807446; National Library of Australia. Details
  • Portrait of Professor David Cooper, Director HIV Medicine Unit, St. Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 1993, 3 [picture] / Stewart Harris, 1993, 151807891; National Library of Australia. Details

Published resources

Journal Articles

  • Roehr, Bob, 'David Cooper: brought HIV research and treatment to resource-poor settings', British Medical Journal, 2018 (2018), 361. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k1567. Details
  • Watts, Geoff, 'David Albert Cooper', The Lancet, 391 (10132) (2018), 1768. Details

Newspaper Articles

Resources

Resource Sections

See also

Elizabeth Daniels

Created: 17 April 2018, Last modified: 14 September 2023

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