HIV is no longer the death sentence it was once believed to be. Thanks to modern medicine, people living with HIV who have access to treatment can expect a near-normal life expectancy. Daily antiretroviral therapy (ART) keeps the virus under control, and the principle of U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) means that people on effective treatment cannot pass HIV to their partners. On top of that, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) has become a powerful tool for prevention, especially in LGBTQIA+ communities.

And yet, treatment is not the same as a cure. ART requires strict daily adherence, and interruptions in treatment can cause the virus to rebound. Access is also uneven: while many of us have options like PrEP and ART, millions around the world do not. The stigma surrounding HIV still exists too, shaping the way our community is perceived and how many people living with HIV experience healthcare, relationships, and everyday life.

That’s why cure research matters. A true cure — one that clears HIV from the body or allows people to live permanently free from treatment — would change everything. It would mean freedom from pills, freedom from fear of transmission, and freedom from stigma. It would also represent a turning point in global health, ensuring future generations won’t face HIV in the same way ours has.

In this article, you’re going to learn about:

• The remarkable individuals who have been declared cured of HIV
• The promising scientific strategies being tested right now
• Why these breakthroughs matter so deeply for LGBTQIA+ people
• What we can realistically look forward to in the years ahead

The People Who Have Been Cured

We believe it’s powerful to ground hope in real‑world breakthroughs. Although cures are still extremely rare, a handful of people have been declared cured of HIV under very specific—and risky—circumstances. Let’s meet them and understand what their stories mean for our community and for science.

Timothy Ray Brown — the “Berlin Patient”

In 2007, a man known as the “Berlin Patient,” later publicly known as Timothy Ray Brown, became the first person cured of HIV. While being treated for acute myeloid leukemia, he received two stem cell transplants from a donor who carried a rare CCR5‑Δ32 genetic mutation, which prevents most HIV strains from entering cells. After stopping HIV treatment, no trace of the virus was found—ever. This case was first announced at CROI 2008

Adam Castillejo — the “London Patient”

A second cure emerged more than a decade later: Adam Castillejo, the “London Patient,” underwent a similar transplant in 2016 to treat Hodgkin lymphoma. He too received stem cells from a CCR5‑Δ32 donor, and has been free of HIV since he stopped therapy around 2017.

Marc Franke — the “Düsseldorf Patient”

The Düsseldorf Patient (now identified as Marc Franke) got his transplant in 2013, also from a CCR5‑Δ32 donor. He remained on treatment for several years afterward, stepping off ART in 2018. After prolonged monitoring, researchers officially confirmed his cure in February 2023

Paul Edmonds

Paul Edmonds, known as the City of Hope Patient, had lived with HIV since the 1980s. By the time he was diagnosed with leukemia, he had already outlived the darkest days of the epidemic, when few dared to imagine a future cure. His doctors performed a stem cell transplant using a donor with the protective CCR5 mutation — a treatment designed to fight his cancer, but with a stunning side effect: HIV disappeared from his body.

For long-term survivors like Paul, his story is more than a medical headline. It represents vindication for a generation who endured loss, stigma, and decades of treatment. To see one of their own cured in 2022 was not just a clinical achievement — it was a deeply emotional moment for our community

The Geneva Patient 

For years, scientists believed that the protective CCR5 mutation was the secret ingredient in every known cure. Then came the Geneva Patient, who broke the rules. His transplant came from a donor without the mutation — yet the virus still hasn’t returned.

This isn’t a full “cure” in the way earlier cases were defined, but it cracked open a new line of thinking: maybe the CCR5 mutation isn’t the only path forward. For researchers, that’s not a disappointment — it’s a puzzle piece, hinting at other ways the immune system can shut HIV down.

A Seventh Case — Proof by Numbers

One cure could have been luck. Two proved it was possible. By the time researchers stood on stage at the 2024 International AIDS Conference and announced a seventh patient free of HIV, the narrative had shifted. It was no longer just about extraordinary individuals — it was about building a body of evidence.

This latest case followed the Berlin-style transplant route, but what matters most is the accumulation. Each new success makes it harder to argue that cure is a medical anomaly. Instead, it’s becoming a reproducible outcome under the right conditions — a crucial step in moving cure research from rare exceptions toward reliable science .

What’s Happening in Research Right Now

The stories of cured patients are inspiring, but they share one big limitation: the cures came through risky transplants designed to treat cancer, not HIV. That means they’re not a practical solution for the millions of people living with HIV worldwide. So where does that leave us today?

The good news is that researchers are exploring multiple strategies at once. Some are designed to completely clear HIV from the body. Others focus on “functional cures” — approaches that would allow people to stay healthy and undetectable without daily medication. Here are a few of the most promising directions:

1. Shock and Kill (also called Kick and Kill)

HIV has a survival trick: it hides inside “latent reservoirs” of cells, staying invisible while treatment keeps it suppressed. The shock and kill strategy aims to “wake up” the virus and then wipe it out with drugs or immune responses. So far, it’s shown mixed results, but new trials are testing more precise agents to flush out hidden virus cells.

2. Gene Editing (CRISPR and Beyond)

Imagine rewriting the code of the immune system. That’s what CRISPR gene editing could offer: cutting HIV out of infected cells or changing the CCR5 receptor so the virus can’t get in. A 2023 trial in the U.S. used CRISPR to remove HIV DNA from cells in living people — an early but important step toward proving it can work outside the lab.

3. Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies (bNAbs)

Some people naturally produce rare antibodies that can block many different strains of HIV. Scientists are now manufacturing and testing these broadly neutralizing antibodies as infusions. The idea is to train or supplement the immune system to keep HIV under control without pills. Trials have already shown bNAbs can delay viral rebound after stopping treatment, and combination therapies look even more powerful.

4. Therapeutic Vaccines

Unlike preventive vaccines (like those for COVID-19), therapeutic vaccines are designed to help people already living with HIV. The goal is to “teach” the immune system to recognize and destroy infected cells, keeping HIV suppressed without drugs. Several candidates are in early clinical trials, and some researchers believe combining vaccines with bNAbs may hold the key to durable remission.

Why This Matters for LGBTQIA+ Communities

For many of us, HIV is not an abstract issue — it’s personal. Our LGBTQIA+ community has carried the weight of this virus since the early days of the epidemic. Entire generations were shaped by the fear, the stigma, and the devastating losses. Even today, while treatment and prevention have changed the landscape, HIV still disproportionately affects LGBTQIA+ people, especially gay and bisexual men, trans women, and people of color.

So when we talk about cure research, we’re not just talking about science. We’re talking about justice.

• Access and Equity: Not everyone has the same access to ART or PrEP. A universal cure would be a game-changer for communities where stigma, poverty, or healthcare barriers make daily medication difficult.
• Stigma Reduction: HIV stigma hasn’t disappeared. A cure wouldn’t erase history, but it would remove one of the most powerful tools used to shame and marginalize people in our community.
• Intergenerational Healing: For long-term survivors, many of whom lost friends, lovers, and whole chosen families, a cure is about more than medicine. It’s about recognition — that the decades of survival, advocacy, and resilience were not in vain.
• Global Solidarity: LGBTQIA+ people in countries with fewer resources often face the harshest impact of HIV. Cure research gives us a shared goal that crosses borders and identities: health and dignity for everyone.

For all these reasons, progress in HIV cure research is progress for us. Every new breakthrough is more than a headline — it’s another step toward freedom from a virus that has defined too much of our collective story.

What We Can Look Forward To

Here’s the truth: a widely available HIV cure isn’t here yet. The cases we’ve seen so far are extraordinary but not scalable — bone marrow transplants are far too risky to be offered outside of cancer treatment. Still, the research field has shifted dramatically in the last decade. For the first time, we’re not asking if HIV can be cured, but how and when.

Near-Term Progress

• Clinical Trials: Dozens of studies are underway right now, testing everything from gene editing to therapeutic vaccines. Some are small, first-in-human safety trials, while others are already exploring whether people can stop treatment after an intervention.
• Combination Approaches: Increasingly, researchers believe the answer won’t come from a single “magic bullet,” but from layering strategies — for example, pairing a therapeutic vaccine with broadly neutralizing antibodies.
• Functional Cures: One of the most realistic goals in the next decade is a “functional cure,” where people living with HIV could stay healthy and undetectable without taking daily pills. That kind of remission would be life-changing.

Longer-Term Hopes

• Gene Therapies: If CRISPR or other gene-editing tools can be made safe, affordable, and effective, they could offer a one-time treatment that permanently removes HIV from the body.
• Global Equity: A true cure must work for everyone — not just in wealthy countries, but in regions where HIV hits hardest. Researchers and activists are already pushing to ensure access is part of the conversation from the start.
• Stigma-Free Futures: Beyond the medical science, a cure would mark a turning point in how the world views HIV and the LGBTQIA+ community. The virus that once symbolized shame could instead become a symbol of resilience, science, and collective action.

Why This Matters for You

We want to be clear: a cure isn’t arriving tomorrow. But science has momentum, and that’s something new. We’ve gone from one cure to several, from vague theories to concrete trials. Each breakthrough is a signal that the future is moving in the right direction.

For our community, that means hope grounded in evidence — hope that one day, HIV won’t define our health, our relationships, or our stories.

Hope for the Future

We’ve come a long way since the early days of the epidemic. Today, people living with HIV can thrive thanks to treatment, prevention tools like PrEP are widely available, and U=U has changed the way we think about transmission. But the dream of a cure — a world where HIV no longer dictates medication schedules, healthcare access, or stigma — is closer than it has ever been.

The individuals who have already been cured remind us that science can deliver the extraordinary. The research happening now shows us that progress is steady, not just wishful thinking. And for our LGBTQIA+ community, each step forward is more than a scientific milestone — it’s a step toward dignity, justice, and healing.

We’ll keep following this research closely, because we know how much it matters to you, and to all of us. The road to a cure isn’t over, but it’s no longer a question of if. It’s a matter of when.

Until then, we celebrate the progress, fight for equity, and stay hopeful together.