1981: 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) receives reports of gay men becoming ill with opportunistic infections.
1982: CDC defines acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Charles Rinaldo and University of Pittsburgh colleagues begin gathering blood samples from gay male volunteers
1983: The National Institutes of Health chooses Pitt as study site for the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.
The Pitt Men's Study begins.
1984: The NIH's Robert Gallo identifies the virus that causes AIDS. It becomes known as the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.
The Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study officially begins; Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Chicago and Los Angeles are sites.
1985: Blood test for HIV is approved. HIV screening of blood supply begins.
The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force is founded.
Actor Rock Hudson, 58, dies of AIDS.
1987: MACS study shows that HIV is transmitted through anal sex.
Use of first AIDS drug, AZT, begins.
1988: Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force hires Kerry Stoner as executive director.
1989: MACS reports that daily antibiotics can delay the onset of lethal pneumonia in AIDS patients.
1990: Indiana hemophiliac Ryan White, who faced discrimination and was blocked from attending school after being infected by contaminated blood products, dies of AIDS at age 18.
1991: Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson announces that he is HIV-positive.
1993: Stoner, 39, dies of AIDS.
Tennis star Arthur Ashe, 49, dies of AIDS.
1994: CDC confirms that pregnant, HIV-positive women treated with AZT are less likely to spread infection to their newborns.
AIDS becomes the leading cause of death for adults between 25 and 44 in the United States.
1995: Diving great Greg Louganis reveals that he was HIV-positive at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
Saquinavir is the first protease inhibitor approved for use.
MACS downsizes.
1996: Three-drug combinations prove to delay the onset of AIDS.
Pitt Men's Study shows that viral levels in the blood can be used to predict when a person with HIV will develop AIDS.
1997: President Clinton sets a goal to develop an AIDS vaccine within 10 years.
1998: National clinical trials begin for an AIDS prevention vaccine called AIDSvax.
1999: Pittsburgh is named a site for AIDSvax testing.
Compiled by Anita Srikameswaran
