Mark Wainberg, Trailblazing AIDS Researcher, Dies In Florida Swimming Accident

Mark Wainberg Image by Getty Images

By Dave Goldiner April 13, 2017

Mark Wainberg, a trailblazing Canadian AIDS researcher, reportedly died Tuesday while swimming in rough water in Bal Harbour, Florida. He was 71.

Wainberg, who lived in Montreal, was swimming Tuesday with his family when he started struggling with heavy surf and rip currents, Bal Harbour police chief Miguel De La Rosa said, according the the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

De La Rosa said Wainberg’s son tried in vain to rescue his dad.

“The son …. was able to locate him and began to swim back to shore with him,” said De La Rosa. “Other beach-goers went into the water and assisted him in bringing him onto the shore.”

But Wainberg couldn’t be revived and was later pronounced dead.

Wainberg was lead investigator at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital and director of the McGill University AIDS Centre, CBC reported.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at goldiner@forward.com, or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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