Name Iris Long | Role Activist | |
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Iris Long Ph.D. (born Iris Doerr December 8, 1934 in New York City, NY) was a key activist in the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) effort to spread information about the possible Antiviral drugs that could be used to combat HIV/AIDS.
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Before ACT-UP
Iris Long attended Hunter College studying chemistry, earning her Master's degree in 1964. Long worked as an organic chemist in several research hospitals, including eleven years at Sloan-Kettering, there she worked on developing nucleosides - experience that would later help her understand the workings of AZT drugs. She left Sloan-Kettering and earned her Ph.D. in 1972 at the University of Connecticut. However, some time after this she ceased working professionally as a chemist, and was acting as a stay at home carer for her mother, who was unwell. It was during this time that she became aware of the AIDS crisis and the potential use of drugs similar to those she had worked on to treat it.
Activism
Despite having no connection to the gay community, or HIV/AIDS sufferers, Long began to volunteer with CRI (C[ommunity] R[easearch] I[nitiative]), distributing drugs that could possibly help against the virus to those infected. Many of the drugs being taken were anti-cancer drugs. However, around March 1987 she attended a meeting of ACT-UP and was struck by the group's approach. She brought the group information on a clinical trial carried out on HIV positive patients by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) and was able to explain the types of drugs being used. This proved to be her greatest gift; explaining the complex range of drugs out there to the group. Following this she helped for the Treatment and Data Committee to review medical information and report back to the larger group. She would go on to organize the AIDS Treatment Registry.