Name Paul Berry | ||
Paul S. Berry, MD, JD, MBA is a physician, pioneer researcher in HIV/AIDS, producer, director, editor, entertainer, radio talk show host, author, educator and philanthropist. He currently works as a Nocturnist in a federally designated physician shortage area hospital in Oroville, California. In addition to working as a full time physician, his current projects are:
Contents
- History
- Education Training
- Medical Research
- Pacific Oaks Research 1992
- Pacific Oaks Research 1993
- Pacific Oaks Research 1994
- Pacific Oaks Research 1995
- Pacific Oaks Research 1996
- Media Literary Endeavors
- References
Producing and co-hosting the internationally award winning kitchen comedy television series Making it with Moraes.
Traveling the world to discover unique medical therapies for increasing/improving one’s ‘health-span.’
History
Born in the late 50s, Berry’s turbulent childhood sent him to multiple foster homes, a county home for boys and dropping out of high school at age 17. Ultimately, he returned to academics in the early 1980s. It was during the early 80’s and his initial years in college while DJ’ing at a nightclub in West Hollywood California called Studio One, that Berry noticed various acquaintances and “party-goers,” who would suddenly become ill and die from what would later come to be known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome. During that time, he was already preaching safe sex to anyone that would listen. He believed that sexual transmission was implicated in transmission of what was then called GRID (Gay-related immune disorder). He abandoned the party disco atmosphere of the early 80s to focus on academics and pursue a career in medicine. An excerpt from the back cover of his book Essential Advice For Pre-Meds states :
After his decision to become a doctor, Paul S. Berry attended undergrad at the University of California, Los Angeles, California. He finished as planned in July of 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Science and Psychobiology. Berry then commenced the study of medicine at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C Medical School, obtaining his Doctor of Medicine degree in May of 1990. He returned to Los Angeles for residency training in internal medicine in 1990.
The AIDS epidemic escalated. Dr. Berry was frustrated with the politicization of a deadly disease and joined Search Alliance, a fast track AIDS research group headed by Dr. Paul Rothman. Soon after Dr. Rothman succumbed to AIDS and Berry assumed the position of medical director of Search Alliance (later becoming known as AIDS Research Alliance) where he was involved in obtaining free access to non-FDA approved medicines for fast track research.1. (Aside from the free access part, not unlike what occurred in the movie Dallas Buyers club.)
In 1992 he served as medical director and member on the board of directors, for Search Alliance. Dr. Berry stated, “[He] wanted to remove clinical research form the glacial pace of the world of university research and during that time, approached Dr. Joel Weismann of Pacific Oaks Medical Group, the leading west coast practice for HIV/AIDS - and was named Director of Research and Scientific Investigations.
Dr. Berry pioneered the transition of HIV/AIDS clinical studies from the university world to the private practice setting allowing for rapid clinical study enrollment, study completion and rapid scientific evaluation of multiple medications approved for HIV/AIDS. Dr. Berry was involved in dozens of double blind, randomized, placebo controlled studies for HIV/AIDS.
Through the 1990s HIV/AIDS rapidly became a manageable long term disease in non-third world industrialized nations, Dr. Berry pursued other endeavors. Dr. Berry was engaged in additional academic pursuits resulting in a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Irvine and Juris Doctorate from Boalt Hall at the University of California at Berkeley.
Education & Training
Medical Research
In the 1990s, Dr. Paul Berry pioneered the model used for HIV clinical research conducted in the setting of primary care physician's offices. In conjunction with Roche Molecular Systems , Berry was involved in the commercialization of HIV-1 viral quantification via AmplicorTM, one of the first tests used as a clinical endpoint for the FDA drug approval. He performed the viral load testing for Merck data submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of Crixivan®. Berry served as principal investigator on dozens phase II-IV HIV-1 clinical studies. In addition to providing clinical data leading to FDA approval of lamivudine, indinavir, ritonavir and saquinavir.
Pacific Oaks Research 1992
Beverly Hills/Sherman Oaks, California.
Immunologic and Endocrine Parameters in HIV Infected Subjects. A Phase 1, sixty patient clinical trial to evaluate correlation amongst T-cell subsets, symptomatology, tumor necrosis factor, DHEA-S, Cortisol, IL-2 and intracellular p24 in HIV-positive males.
Effect of Administration of Thymopentin on the Anti-CD3+ Induced Lymphocyte Proliferation in HIV-Infected Asymptomatic Patients. A phase I, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial evaluating lymphoproliferation in HIV-infected subjects pre- and post-administration of Thymopentin compared to non-drug receiving HIV negative controls.
Evaluation of Anti-CD3+ Induced Lymphocyte Proliferation in HIV-Infected Asymptomatic Patients. A fifty-patient clinical study to provide baseline data for lymphoproliferation assays.
Pacific Oaks Research 1993
Beverly Hills/Sherman Oaks, California.
A Double-Blind Randomized Parallel Group Study Comparing Procysteine® to Placebo in HIV-Infected Patients Who are Taking Antiretroviral Nucleosides.
A Double-Blind Study of Timunox® (Thymopentin) in Asymptomatic HIV-infected Patients Receiving Either Mono (AZT or ddl) or Combination (AZT/ddl or AZT/ddC) Anti-retroviral Therapy.
A Phase II, Randomized Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multi-Center Study of rhlGHF-1 and Nutropin® (Somatropin for Injection) in Inducing Weight Gain in Patients with Wasting Associated with HIV-1 Infection.
A Pilot Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Parallel Design, Multi-Center Trial to Evaluate the Effect of Ranitidine on Immunology Indicators in Asymptomatic HIV-1 Infected Subjects with a CD4+ Cell Count Between 400-700/mm3.
A Randomized, Double Blind Multi-Center Trial to Compare the Safety and Efficacy of 3TC™ Monotherapy, Versus Zidovudine (ZDV) Monotherapy Versus 3TC™ Administered Concurrently with ZDV in the Treatment of HIV-1 Infected Patients Who are ZDV Naïve (<4 weeks) with CD4+ Cell Counts of 200-500/mm3.
Pacific Oaks Research 1994
Beverly Hills/Sherman Oaks, California.
A Study to Determine the Safety and Pharmacokinetics of a Range of Oral Regimens of Glutathione in Asymptomatic HIV Infection CD4+ Above 500 cells/mm3, with the Aim of Alleviating GSH Deficiency.
A Continuation Protocol with Open Label Saquinavir for HIV-Infected Patients who have completed a Clinical Trial with Saquinavir Treatment.
A Phase I Study of Testoderm-TTS® in Hypogonadal Males With and Without AIDS.
A Randomized, Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Phase III Parallel Study of Zidovudine (ZDV) Alone, versus ZDV + Zalcitabine (ddC), versus ZDV + Ro 31-8959 (protease inhibitor- Saquinavir), versus ZDV + ddC + Saquinavir in Previously Untreated or Minimally Pretreated HIV-Infected Patients with CD4+ counts from ≥50 to ≤350 cells/mm3.
A Multi-Center, Partially Double-Blind, Parallel Panel, Time Lagged 24-week Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Activity of L-735,524 in HIV-1 Seropositive Patients.
Acceptability of Testoderm® Testosterone Transdermal Systems in Private Clinical Practice and Other Settings.
A Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Randomized Twenty-Four Week Study to Compare the Safety, Tolerability and Biologic Activity of L-735,524 and Zidovudine Administered Concomitantly to L-735,524 Alone and Zidovudine Alone in HIV-1 Seropositive Patients.
A Randomized, Controlled, Multi-Center Trial of Filgrastim (Recombinant-methionyl Human Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor) for the Prevention of Grade 4 Neutropenia in Patients with HIV Infection.
A Multi-Clinic, Double-Blind, Randomized, Six Week Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Biologic Activity of Two Dose Levels of L-735,524 Versus Zidovudine in HIV-1 Seropositive Patients.
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Multi-Center, Parallel Study of Ro 31-8959 (HIV-1 Protease Inhibitor) Alone, HIVIDÒ (Zalcitabine, ddC) Alone, and Both in Combination as Treatment for Advanced HIV Infection (CD4+ 50-300 cells/mm3) in Patients Discontinuing or Unable to Take Retrovir® (Zidovudine, ZDV) Therapy.
A randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Study to Evaluate the Safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Utilizing Herbal Treatments Alone in a Cohort of 100 HIV + Males with CD4+ Cell Counts of 300 - 500 Cells/mm.
Pacific Oaks Research 1995
Beverly Hills/Sherman Oaks, California.
A Phase II Open-Label Exploratory Study of Saquinavir + Zidovudine + Lamivudine in HIV-Infected Patients.
A Randomized, Parallel, Open-Label Study Comparing Saquinavir (Hard Gelatin Formulation, 600 mg tid) to Saquinavir Soft Gelatin Formulation [(400 mg, 800 mg, 1200 mg) tid] x 8 weeks in HIV Infected Patients.
A Multi-Center, Double-Blind, Randomized, Six-Month Study to Evaluate the Activity and Safety of MK-0639 (Indinavir Sulfate), 800 mg q8h Administered in Combination with Zidovudine, 200 mg q8h, and 3TC, 150 mg b.i.d. (MK-0639/ZDV/3TC) versus ZDV/3TC Versus MK-0639 Monotherapy for the Treatment of HIV Infection with Inclusion of an Open-Label Arm for Patients Who Meet Safety Entry Criteria but Are Not Eligible for Randomization.
A Multi-Clinic, Double-Blind, Randomized, One-Year Study to Compare the Safety and Efficacy of MK-639, 800 mg q8h Administered Concomitantly with Stavudine, Dosed by Body Weight, to that of MK-639 Alone and Stavudine Alone.
A Phase III Safety and Efficacy Trial of ABT-538 plus Current Therapy vs. Placebo plus Current Therapy in HIV-Infected Patients.
A Multi-Clinic, Double-Blind, Randomized, Eighteen-Month Study in HIV-1 Seropositive Patients to Compare the Efficacy and Safety of MK-639, 800 mg q8h, and Zidovudine, 200 mg q8h, Administered Concomitantly to MK-639 Alone and Zidovudine Alone.
Pacific Oaks Research 1996
Beverly Hills/Sherman Oaks, California.
An Open Label, Randomized, 16 Week Study in HIV-Infected Patients to Evaluate the Activity and Safety of Indinavir Administered in a Fasted State Compared to Administration Without Regards to Meals.
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled, Dose-Escalating Multiple-Dosed Study of the Safety of Subcutaneous Recombinant Human Interleukin-12 (rhIL-12) in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Patients.
A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled, Dose-Escalating Multiple Dosed Study of the Safety of Subcutaneous Recombinant Human Interleukin-12 (rhIL-12) in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Patients with Fewer than 100 CD4+ Cells. Phase III Ritonavir Long Term Treatment Trial.
Media & Literary Endeavors
Dr. Paul Berry is not only accomplished in research and medicine but is well rounded with his ventures in media. In 2007, a year after becoming a night-time hospitalist he hosted a radio talk show on KZFR FM, called MedTalk, where he talked about medically related topics. In fact, Paul Berry was the first to announce the lead paint in Disney products imported from China.
In 2010, he published his book, Essential advice for Pre-Meds, which was sent to schools all over the United States with twenty-five tips for students he referred to as “25 Tweets.”
Beginning in 2013, Dr. Berry and his spouse Marcelo began to produce, direct, edit and act in their television series Making it with Moraes, and their movie Blow the Duck in 2016. Both worked diligently on these endeavors and after some major setbacks won ten awards on their TV series Making it with Moraes at multiple film festivals, and the show aired on PBS Northern California.