Dr.
James C. Hill played an important role at the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the early years of the
AIDS epidemic. He was a motivating force in building the Institute's
strong AIDS research program.
Dr. Hill forged and maintained NIAID's relationships with government
agencies, Congress, activists, and other community and political
leaders. He helped focus national attention on the AIDS epidemic
and the needs of individuals infected with HIV. "The sheer
horror of AIDSthe debilitating, wasting, way in which
very young productive people dieI don't think anything,
at least in the modern era, quite compares with it," Dr.
Hill said.
Dr. Hill joined the NIAID in 1974. As an administrator of research
projects that created and tested bacterial vaccines, he was
influential in the development of both the meningococcal A and
Haemophilus influenzae b vaccines. Because of this experience,
he was chosen to establish the first AIDS research contracts
at NIAID, setting in motion a project to gather samples from
people with AIDS to see what was causing the disease. In 1984,
he became special assistant to NIAID director Anthony Fauci
and subsequently rose to deputy director. In this capacity,
he championed new AIDS research initiatives.
Dr. Hill retired from the NIAID in 1995. He died on June 26,
1997. |