Dr.
Jack Whitescarver arrived at the NIAID in 1977 after a research
career in cancer and infectious diseases. I jumped in
the middle of a snowstorm from the Harvard School of Public
Health
to the NIH and the Grants Associates Program,
he recalls, where his primary responsibility was to work with
constituent groups.
When Dr. Whitescarver came to NIAID, there was little interaction
between the Institute and advocacy or professional groups, a
situation that was soon to change. Working with then-NIAID director
Dr. Richard Krause, the two men wanted people to appreciate
the importance of continued vigilance against infectious diseases.
Just because we had a battery of antibiotics didnt
mean that we had the cure-all for every infectious disease,
he says. There were no antivirals, for example, and there
were lots of viral diseases.
Four years after Dr. Whitescarver arrived, a new virus, HIV,
appeared on the scene. As AIDS began to spread, NIAID realized
the public needed education, not only to help prevent infection
but to alleviate unwarranted fears about the disease. Although
NIAID had no mandate or allocated funding for outreach activities,
Dr. Whitescarver helped organize meetings across the country
to inform people about AIDS. The goal was to get the truth
out about AIDS, and to get rid of the myths associated with
it, recalls Dr. Whitescarver. There were people
being kicked out of restaurants, losing their jobs
.Physicians
wouldnt work with them and ambulance drivers wouldnt
pick up anybody whom they thought looked like an AIDS patient.
Dr. Whitescarver eventually left NIH for Emory University, but
later returned as the deputy director of the Office of AIDS
Research, where he is currently the acting director. |