Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 26, 2007
Opendra "Bill" Narayan, 71, a senior faculty member at University of Kansas Medical Center, died Monday.
Narayan gained prominence more than a decade ago after developing a form of HIV that caused a disease in monkeys that was similar to AIDS in humans. He used his new animal model to test vaccines, and received close to $50 million in grants - including more than $16 million from the National Institutes of Health - for research at the medical center.
"Dr. Narayan was a brilliant researcher and professor," University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway said in a statement on the school's Web site. "His pioneering work on HIV/AIDS brought international acclaim to himself and the university. On behalf of the entire KU community, I offer deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues."
His colleagues say they will continue his work.
"I hope I and others will be able to take his legacy and move forward," said James Laufenberg, president of Lenexa-based ImmunoGenetix, a company Narayan helped found to bring his AIDS vaccine to market. "I, for one, will do everything I can."
Laufenberg said his company was working on an application to the Food and Drug Administration for permission to test Narayan's vaccine on a small number of people, and hoped to begin clinical trials within two years.
Narayan's vaccines were not intended to prevent people from becoming infected, but he had demonstrated that vaccinated monkeys did not become ill after being infected with the simian version of HIV.
He was looking for an easy-to-administer vaccine that could help people in less-developed countries who could not afford expensive drugs.
"Bill had a very clear altruistic side," said Paul Cheney, a KU Medical Center neuroscientist who collaborated with Narayan on research. "He saw that to stop AIDS around the world was going to take another approach."
Narayan came to the medical center in 1993. He was a distinguished professor and chairman of the department of microbiology, molecular genetics and immunology. Prior to that he was on the faculty at Johns Hopkins.
"You could see the twinkle in his eye every time he made a discovery," said Paul Terranova, vice chancellor for research at the medical center. "He had this excitement for what he was doing. It was work, but it was fun for him."
Visitation is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Amos Family Chapel in Shawnee.
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