Mark Harrington (HIV/AIDS activist)

Harrington first became involved in HIV/AIDS activism after a close friend was diagnosed with HIV in 1988.[5] His interests in social change and power dynamics, which he explored during his time at Harvard, led to him joining the AIDS activism group ACT UP.[6] As a member of ACT UP Harrington worked on the Treatment and Data Committee with Iris Long, Jim Eigo, and others.[3] The Committee was successful in expediting the process of accessing certain experimental AIDS drugs and others still in the process of being approved by the FDA.[5] Much of Harrington's own work and ideas also centered around better communication with AIDS research groups. Harrington's efforts proved fruitful as he and others on his committee would dine with the director of the NIAID, Anthony Fauci, to work together to discuss future plans for research. Harrington and his counterparts who worked directly with scientists and researchers were well versed in academia and science so as to keep up with these professionals they dealt with on a daily basis. In the late eighties, Fauci even proposed hiring Harrington, as he was "dazzled by his brilliance".[9] As the relationships between certain members of ACT UP and officials within the government grew, there began to be infighting with other members of ACT UP.[3]

In Let The Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993, Sarah Schulman writes, "Scanning the interviews I conducted with a wide range and demographic of ACT UPers, the two names that emerge most often in reference to internal leadership are clearly Maxine Wolfe and Mark Harrington...these two were repeatedly named as profound influences."[10] Schulman also writes, "These are the two people most often blamed with ACT UP's downfall and self-defeat, and the two most frequently named at the center of ACT UP's victories and strengths."

Issues within ACT UP such as a divided organization, a lack of funding, and tension on how to best allocate time and resources ultimately led to a split in the organization.[3] In response, Harrington along with 20 other members of ACT UP left the organization in 1992 to form their own group known as the Treatment Action Group, or TAG.[2] To Harrington, the split did not represent a failure on ACT UP's part. Instead, it was a necessary and foreseeable event as the organization was not destined to last.[6]

The foundational principles of TAG were to foster the relationships between activists and researchers (both public and private), serve as a watchdog for ethical practices, and support research that led to the best possible treatments.[3] Harrington and his fellow founding members of TAG hoped for a new era to HIV/AIDS activism, and activism in general: one in which the government was not an enemy, but a partner. Harrington points out that the most important part to the work of TAG was to make researchers more aware of the needs of the people whom their research impacts, in this case people with HIV/AIDS, and also for people in general to be more educated on the work of researchers. TAG was the middle man between the two.[6]

The first major policy victory for Harrington and TAG, was the report: AIDS Research at the NIH: A Critical Review.[3] Drafted in 1992 by Harrington and another TAG member, Gregg Gonsalves, the report outlined certain suggestions the NIH should take to better allocate resources towards and handle HIV/AIDS research. The NIH listened to these suggestions and incorporated them into the NIH Revitalization ACT of 1993, signed into effect by President Bill Clinton.[2][3] The act restructured and strengthened the NIH AIDS research program and created the Office of AIDS Research to oversee all forms of HIV/AIDS research in the United States.[3]

Another important moment for Harrington was his 1992 "Pathogensis and Activism" speech given at the Eighth International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.[2] Here Harrington explained to the world TAG's platform of cooperation instead of continuing trends of antagonism.[1] Along with this, he used his own HIV infected lymph nodes to explain some of the mechanisms behind HIV and urge other people with AIDS to take part in research trials.[2][1] His speech also doubled as a public "coming out" with his status as HIV-positive, one which many were not aware of.[1]

Other notable accomplishments for Harrington and TAG were the papers: The Crisis in Clinical AIDS Research(1993), Rescuing Accelerated Approval: Moving Beyond the Status Quo(1994), and Problems with Protease Inhibitor Development Plans(1995). The first was his own paper which highlighted poor standards in clinical trials conducted by the US Department of Defense, ACTG, and other organizations. The other two papers were significant during the development of protease inhibitors.[2]