Michael J. Scolaro, M.D. - Medical Director
As the founder and Medical Director of Let There Be Hope, Dr. Michael J. Scolaro inspires and facilitates multidisciplinary research projects emanating from his clinical practice and personal research in HIV/AIDS. He received his medical degree from Boston University in 1959 and built a practice in neuropsychiatry after residency at St. Vincent Hospital and Medical Center in New York. Moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s to join the faculty at the University of Southern California, he soon affiliated with St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, where he founded the first Medicare-approved Pain Management Clinic in the USA.
As early as 1981, patients afflicted with AIDS neuropathies sought Dr. Scolaro’s help in the pain management clinic at St. Vincent and with concern for their overwhelming medical needs – and growing numbers – he changed the focus of his practice from neuropsychiatry to medicine specializing in the treatment of patients with HIV and AIDS. Soon Dr. Scolaro became a leading clinician in the treatment of this disease. He was a pioneer in establishing an AIDS Coordinating Group and Commission to tackle the problem in LA, and has played a central role in clinical care and research related to AIDS since then.
In 1986, before any anti-viral drugs were available, Dr. Scolaro launched the first FDA physician-sponsored antiviral research protocol, involving the combined use of an anti-viral compound in conjunction with an immune modulator. From 1987 to 1994 he was the Director of AIDS Research at the Los Angeles Oncologic Institute, St. Vincent Medical Center. During that time his clinical research included the “Efficacy of Liposomally Encapsulated Daunorubicin (VS103) in Epidemic Kaposi’s Sarcoma of AIDS,” “Pulmonary Aspergillosis in the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome,” “Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B in AIDS with Intron A,” “Convergent-Combination Therapy: AZT, DDC, and Foscarnet in the Inhibition of HIV-1 In-Vivo,” and “A Multicenter Study of Oral Versus Intravenous Hydration to AIDS Patients with CMV Retinitis Treated with Foscavir.” Establishing his own clinical practice while remaining a Director of the Los Angeles Oncologic Institute at St. Vincent, Dr. Scolaro then founded the Anti-Viral Research Institute in 1993 as a non-profit organization dedicated to generating new treatments for people with HIV/AIDS and allied disorders. The earlier focus on anti-viral drug treatments expanded into multidisciplinary-team explorations focused on HIV pathogenesis and targeted delivery. To reflect the Institute’s vision and mission, the Board changed its name to Let There Be Hope Medical Research Institute in 1996.
Dr. Scolaro began a research collaboration on liposomal targeted drug delivery with research scientists Dr.Sean Sullivan, Ph.D., Dr. Robert Gieseler, PhD., and Peyman Javaherbin, M.S. in 1989. Subsequently, with Dr. Gieseler and colleagues at the University of Göttingen, Drs. Scolaro and Sullivan published a study on inhibiting HIV-1 proliferation using liposome-encapsulated sense DNA in 1992: “Inhibition of HIV-1 Proliferation by Liposome-Encapsulated Sense DNA to the 5’ tat Splice Acceptor Site” (Antisense Research and Development, vol. 2). This research provided the groundwork for the team’s ongoing therapeutic research. Through the 1990s, as Medical Director of Let There Be Hope, Dr. Scolaro developed the Institute’s research capabilities in association with his medical practice. In the year 2000 he brought collaborators Gieseler, Sullivan and Javaherbin into Let There Be Hope as Chief Scientist, Scientific Director, and Director of Laboratories respectively. In addition to current studies described elsewhere in this website, (see Publications and Signature Papers) Dr. Scolaro and colleagues have also published on the “Potential Role for Recombinant Human Growth Hormone Therapy in HIV-Infected Patients with Cardiac Deficits,” “Electron Beam Therapy for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome-Related Molluscum Contagiosum Lesions,” “Effects of Wasting Therapy with Recombinant Human Growth Hormone (rhGH) on Cardiac Ejection Fraction in HIV+ Men,” “All-Trans-Retinoic Acid Upregulates CD1a on Human Monocyte-Derived Dendritic Cells: Implications for Melanoma-Specific Tumor Vaccination,” “Compassionate Use of of Thalidomide in Adults with HIV-Associated Wasting.” Dr. Scolaro has also acted as a referee for the journal AIDS.
In recent years, Dr. Scolaro began painting seascapes for relaxation. Other artists acknowledged his work as worthy of public exhibition, and since 1998 his paintings have been exhibited in Paris, Manhattan, Geneva, Kansas City, Laguna Beach, and Los Angeles. Dr. Scolaro’s painting is informed by his belief that spirituality is the integral matrix for science, medicine, creativity, and nature. The doctor’s impatience in moving forward with research is in stark contrast to his approach to painting, which reflects patience in finding the right light and interplay of forces to reveal nature in its passion, tranquility and vitality. Over the years, Dr. Scolaro has donated all proceeds of his original paintings and reproductions to Let There Be Hope, thereby serving asone of the Institute’s major individual contributors.
If you wish to view a catalogue of the artist’s paintings, please visit www.michaelscolaro.com
