And the Band Played On

We had our first brush with infectious disease fame when the CDC celebrated it's 60th anniversary earlier this month. We were invited to a celebration at the InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka, where Dr. Harold Jaffe gave the key-note address. Dr. Jaffe started working for the CDC in 1974 and in 1981, he was assigned to study the earliest cases of AIDS in San Francisico. He was portrayed in the movie "And the Band Played On" along with Dr. James Curran, currently Dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He was the Director of the National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention at the CDC before leaving for Oxford University. So he's a big deal. After the presentation he comes back to our flats for wine and cheese (Dr Susan Allen was in town so she was the one behind the invitation). Michelle was able to drop names of people that she's worked with in the past, whom he new. I was able to drop cheese on the floor and drink wine. But it was a great opportunity to talk with someone that has worked with HIV/AIDS for what is essentially a lifetime for me. He seemed impressed with our project and the work that we're doing. If you haven't seen "And the Band Played On", make plans to see it soon.