Peter Howard was a doctor with the Terminus Disease Research Center (DRC). In 1988, he announced a breakthrough in the treatment of AIDS and HIV. That breakthrough was HIVI (HIV inhibitor), which had proven quite effective in sim infected with HIV. His announcement set off a firestorm in the Federated Commonwealths, and reignited the debate regarding the use sims in medical research. Howard continued his work. While he was not unsympathetic to the sims, he felt that human beings were more important, and the AIDS epidemic was too deadly a threat.