DR. HELENE GAYLE, director of the HIM, TB and Reproductive Health Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is changing the global study of HIM and AIDS prevention--one country at a time. Responding to the global AIDS epidemic that has ravished many poor and underdeveloped nations, the foundation has poured more than $4 billion into the worldwide battle against AIDS and other infectious diseases, including a $750 million grant to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations.
'The foundation looks at some of the biggest inequities in our society and around the world and seeks to equalize the value of life,' says Dr. Gayle, who previously directed the HIM, STD andTB prevention activities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 'It's incredible when two of the world's richest people put their money behind the message that one life is just as important as another--no matter where you live.'
Dr. Gayle, president of the International AIDS Society and co-chair of the Global HW Prevention Working Group, devoted 20 years to HIM/AIDS research, tuberculosis elimination and increased STD prevention efforts while at the CDC and was later sworn in as assistant surgeon general for the United States. She also studied malnutrition in children in the United States and internationally, and she evaluated and implemented child-survival programs in Africa.
'Dr. Gayle exemplifies the best in public health leadership' says Dr. David Satcher, former United States Surgeon General' She has made significant contributions to the international and domestic study, control and prevention of HIV and AIDS and other infectious diseases.'
An international speaker on global health issues, Dr. Gayle has served as health consultant to international agencies, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank and UNAIDS, and has worked extensively in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
A native of Brooklyn and a current resident of Seattle, Dr. Gayle, who is single, received a bachelor of arts from Barnard College of Columbia University, a medical doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's in public health from Johns Hopkins University.
'Effective prevention is much more than a condom or a clean needle,' says Dr. Gayle. 'It's more than education. Effective HIV prevention involves a combination or interventions tailored to local needs and revised in response to changing circumstances. The positive is that we do still have the opportunity to make a difference, and the sooner we start, the greater the difference will be.'
