The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) presented AIDS activist Martin Delaney, founder and longtime director of HIV advocacy and education organization Project Inform, with the NIAID Director’s Special Recognition Award for his contributions to the fight against AIDS, according to the institute’s website.

In 1985, Delaney founded Project Inform and served as its director until 2008. He was a member of the NIAID AIDS Research Advisory Committee from 1991 to 1995, served on NIAID’s National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Disease Council from 1995 to 1998 and has served a number of other advisory roles for the institute. He is widely credited as a key voice behind the development of the Food and Drug Administration’s Accelerated Approval regulations and its Parallel Track system, which provides experimental drugs to those in need before official FDA approval.

The award recognizes Delaney’s “extraordinary contributions to framing the HIV research agenda, particularly with regard to antiretroviral drugs and access to treatment; exceptional efforts on behalf of HIV-infected people; and wise counsel while serving on NIAID advisory committees.”