Susan Desmond-Hellmann

I'm happy to be here. I look forward to it.

I'm happy to be here. I look forward to it.

I went to Catholic school for 12 years in Reno. I explain that when people wonder if I was at a casino for my childhood. And then I went to University of Nevada, both to undergrad and to medical school.

I went to Catholic school for 12 years in Reno. I explain that when people wonder if I was at a casino for my childhood. And then I went to University of Nevada, both to undergrad and to medical school.

You know this with residencies. My dream residency was internal medicine at UCSF, my first pick. And I got my first pick and went to UCSF as an internal medicine resident.

You know this with residencies. My dream residency was internal medicine at UCSF, my first pick. And I got my first pick and went to UCSF as an internal medicine resident.

1982.

1982.

If you read MMWR, that's 1981, was the first indication. In 1982, we knew that there was something happening, especially to gay men, but there was a sense it was homosexuals, hemophiliacs, and Haitians. Remember that?

If you read MMWR, that's 1981, was the first indication. In 1982, we knew that there was something happening, especially to gay men, but there was a sense it was homosexuals, hemophiliacs, and Haitians. Remember that?

Three H's. There was so much mystery still involved that I was and my colleagues were in a study to look at drying our blood to see if we had been infected.

Three H's. There was so much mystery still involved that I was and my colleagues were in a study to look at drying our blood to see if we had been infected.

Pneumocystis. Pneumocystis cariniae pneumonia was the number one diagnosis. So that's what you saw in the hospital that brought patients to attention.

Pneumocystis. Pneumocystis cariniae pneumonia was the number one diagnosis. So that's what you saw in the hospital that brought patients to attention.

Oh, it was a disease that immunosuppressed patients could get very rarely. Most clinicians had never seen it before. What was also clear is that there were many other infections that were not as obvious or life-threatening as pneumocystis was when we saw it right away. What was interesting from an outpatient perspective was capsic sarcoma.

Oh, it was a disease that immunosuppressed patients could get very rarely. Most clinicians had never seen it before. What was also clear is that there were many other infections that were not as obvious or life-threatening as pneumocystis was when we saw it right away. What was interesting from an outpatient perspective was capsic sarcoma.

Kaposi's sarcoma is a really unusual purple-colored tumor, very visible externally. It caused nodules. In patients with HIV infection, it also caused internal organ involvement, and patients would cough up blood or they would vomit blood. But what was really sad and difficult is the combination of cachexia and Kaposi's sarcoma meant that everybody knew you had AIDS. He sort of wore it.

Kaposi's sarcoma is a really unusual purple-colored tumor, very visible externally. It caused nodules. In patients with HIV infection, it also caused internal organ involvement, and patients would cough up blood or they would vomit blood. But what was really sad and difficult is the combination of cachexia and Kaposi's sarcoma meant that everybody knew you had AIDS. He sort of wore it.

And what was interesting for me was that this old-fashioned Kaposi's sarcoma was fundamentally different than what we were seeing. We also saw non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in numbers much smaller than Kaposi's sarcoma. But Kaposi's sarcoma was a very big problem in San Francisco. It was very common in gay men, and it was common in the population we saw.

And what was interesting for me was that this old-fashioned Kaposi's sarcoma was fundamentally different than what we were seeing. We also saw non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in numbers much smaller than Kaposi's sarcoma. But Kaposi's sarcoma was a very big problem in San Francisco. It was very common in gay men, and it was common in the population we saw.