Susan Desmond-Hellmann

With cancer, the mentor I was supposed to work with ended up not coming to San Francisco. So I decided to go to Berkeley and get a master's in public health as a backup strategy. I really scrambled because I didn't want to waste a year.

With cancer, the mentor I was supposed to work with ended up not coming to San Francisco. So I decided to go to Berkeley and get a master's in public health as a backup strategy. I really scrambled because I didn't want to waste a year.

It's a very academic place, but you could do two or three years. And many people went into the lab. I didn't want to go into the lab. I wanted to do epidemiology. I wanted to learn more about statistics and epidemiology. I thought I wanted to do it because I wanted to be a cancer epidemiologist. And to this day, I still think that is one of the great

It's a very academic place, but you could do two or three years. And many people went into the lab. I didn't want to go into the lab. I wanted to do epidemiology. I wanted to learn more about statistics and epidemiology. I thought I wanted to do it because I wanted to be a cancer epidemiologist. And to this day, I still think that is one of the great

opportunities to make a big impact, but you have to be funded. So I'm a pragmatist. The good news was that all that learning at Berkeley and at UCSF in epi and biostat, I brought to drug development. Clinical trials have a lot in common with doing epidemiology.

opportunities to make a big impact, but you have to be funded. So I'm a pragmatist. The good news was that all that learning at Berkeley and at UCSF in epi and biostat, I brought to drug development. Clinical trials have a lot in common with doing epidemiology.

It was, yeah. Palmer Beasley, one of the fathers of that relationship, was the guy who was supposed to come. There were preliminary papers and something relatively early, but it was emerging science.

It was, yeah. Palmer Beasley, one of the fathers of that relationship, was the guy who was supposed to come. There were preliminary papers and something relatively early, but it was emerging science.

You know, I don't. If you weren't in Asia, it was actually, I think, relatively low, but I believe increasing, which is partly why the vaccines are so important.

You know, I don't. If you weren't in Asia, it was actually, I think, relatively low, but I believe increasing, which is partly why the vaccines are so important.

After I got my master's in public health, I became the oncologist at UCSF in the university hospital for the AIDS clinic.

After I got my master's in public health, I became the oncologist at UCSF in the university hospital for the AIDS clinic.

This is Moffitt. So San Francisco General had a very well-known program run by oncologists for AIDS patients who were in the safety net hospital. But in the university hospital, if you were very sick and you had Kaposi's sarcoma, you saw me. And my husband, because we had just gotten married, we were interns together. He was in the lab in ID doing immunology work.

This is Moffitt. So San Francisco General had a very well-known program run by oncologists for AIDS patients who were in the safety net hospital. But in the university hospital, if you were very sick and you had Kaposi's sarcoma, you saw me. And my husband, because we had just gotten married, we were interns together. He was in the lab in ID doing immunology work.

So two of the chiefs of medicine at UCSF were approached by the Rockefeller Foundation, who had started to become worried about heterosexual transmission of HIV. Remember, I talked about the Haitians and the hemophiliacs and homosexuals. 1H wasn't heterosexual. And so there was a lot of disbelief about African HIV.

So two of the chiefs of medicine at UCSF were approached by the Rockefeller Foundation, who had started to become worried about heterosexual transmission of HIV. Remember, I talked about the Haitians and the hemophiliacs and homosexuals. 1H wasn't heterosexual. And so there was a lot of disbelief about African HIV.

And in fact, some people thought it must be gay sex, but people are too embarrassed to admit it. There were other theories, but people just did not understand what was going on in Africa. So the Rockefellers said, we'll give you a grant at UCSF. We'll grant you money to study heterosexual transmission of HIV.

And in fact, some people thought it must be gay sex, but people are too embarrassed to admit it. There were other theories, but people just did not understand what was going on in Africa. So the Rockefellers said, we'll give you a grant at UCSF. We'll grant you money to study heterosexual transmission of HIV.

Not going to the lab, but really looking at epi. And particularly, there was a hypothesis that if it was heterosexually transmitted, there was something to do with sexually transmitted diseases. And that there was something about increasing your risk if you had untreated STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. So we were asked to go. UCSF had no global health.

Not going to the lab, but really looking at epi. And particularly, there was a hypothesis that if it was heterosexually transmitted, there was something to do with sexually transmitted diseases. And that there was something about increasing your risk if you had untreated STDs, sexually transmitted diseases. So we were asked to go. UCSF had no global health.