The Forum presented its first Global Health Catalyst award to Dr. Jim Rooney on Monday, Februrary 23. The occasion was a reception for attendees of the CROI Conference, held in Denver from February 22 to 25, 2026. Dr. Rooney recently retired after a long career developing drugs to treat HIV, most recently as Vice President, Global Medical Affairs at Gilead Sciences. 

At the evening reception, colleagues and friends took time to relate how Dr. Rooney has supported the development of HIV drugs since the early days of the AIDS pandemic, as well as his dedication to collaborating and trying new approaches in pursuit of HIV treatment. Respect and affection for Dr. Rooney shone through in his colleagues’ toasts and anecdotes from their work together.

Forum Executive Director Dr. Veronica Miller presents Dr. Jim Rooney with the first Global Health Catalyst Award.

 Guests at the Forum for Collaborative Research reception at CROI toast Dr. Jim Rooney's lifetime of accomplishments in antiviral drug development.

 
Veronica Miller: [Dr. Rooney] has been a friend and advisor and a bridge builder for The Forum. His tireless persistence to keep collaborations moving and provide drugs for HIV trials has been invaluable and is deeply appreciated.

Judith Currier: The number of studies that Jim helped facilitate behind the scenes—it's not something that people see and realize. We could not do these studies if we didn't have the drugs.

Ken Mayer: What makes Jim so special is, he's a brilliant scientist but he has been a facilitator of all this research. He is one of the major reasons we have PREP.

 
Flavia Matovu Kiweewa: Jim Rooney provided one of the first DEXA scans at my site in Uganda on the PROMISE study, which was looking at ART for the prevention of mother–child prevention of HIV. Also we support other researchers in country because we have one of the DEXA scans in Uganda.  

  
Jeremy Nuttall: The International Partnership for Microbicides was looking at dapivirine for HIV prevention at the same time that Gilead was looking at tenofovir. We worked together to get an HIV prevention product out as quickly as possible. I've been very appreciative of Jim and his influence and assistance to IPM, and we had a unique opportunity to have an impact on the HIV epidemic.   

Julie Fox: I've worked with Jim for about 15 years on investigator-led research, and he was always willing to think outside the box. With him we moved the HIV oral prevention field foward quite a bit. 

 
Charlie Flexner: Jim is a wonderful person; he has been an extraordinary resource in the pharmaceutical industry for his academic collaborators. He is always thinking about how he can have a positive impact on people with HIV and related diseases.