Community in a Time of Crisis Virtual Opening
March 09, 2021Information
- ID
- 6270
- To Cite
- DCA Citation Guide
Transcript
- 00:03Welcome welcome to our virtual opening
- 00:06of the Community in time of crisis,
- 00:10Yale New Haven HIV AIDS from 1981 to 1996.
- 00:14Thank you all for coming almost 300
- 00:18people RSVP's to be part of this
- 00:22celebration and I truly considered
- 00:24a celebration for those of us who
- 00:28lived through this time period.
- 00:31You will get a chance to hear
- 00:33from some of your colleagues.
- 00:36You have a slate of speakers
- 00:38who they will talk from.
- 00:40Personal experiences will be having the
- 00:42Dean talk and we will also be showing
- 00:45you a video of the virtue of virtual
- 00:48video of the actual exhibit itself.
- 00:51So again, thank you so much for being here.
- 00:54I hope you enjoy but also allow
- 00:57yourself to reflect back during this
- 00:59time period and allow yourself to feel.
- 01:02Whatever it is that you choose to feel.
- 01:05Now I would like to introduce
- 01:08our Dean Nancy Brown.
- 01:10She is a Dean of the School of Medicine.
- 01:14She is a professor in internal medicine.
- 01:17She graduated from Yale College and
- 01:20completed medical school at Harvard.
- 01:22She created her research portfolio
- 01:25around translational research,
- 01:26developing new pharmacological strategies
- 01:28to prevent basket disease in patients
- 01:31with high blood pressure and diabetes.
- 01:34Prior to coming to Yale.
- 01:36She was the chair of the Department
- 01:39of Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt,
- 01:41and their physician chief for the
- 01:45Vanderbilt University Hospital.
- 01:47The Dean's research has been recognized
- 01:49by the American Heart Association,
- 01:52the American Association of Hypertension,
- 01:54and the American Federation
- 01:56of Clinical Research.
- 01:58The Dean is a fellow in the American
- 02:01Association of Advancement Science,
- 02:03a member of the American Society
- 02:06of Clinical Investigation,
- 02:07the American Association of Physicians,
- 02:09and the National Academy of Medicine.
- 02:12Help me welcome, Dean Brown.
- 02:16Thank
- 02:16you and thank you all for joining us.
- 02:19I am so delighted to welcome you to this
- 02:22virtual opening of an important exhibit.
- 02:24At the beginning of 2019,
- 02:26the program for Art in public spaces began
- 02:29the task of evaluating the artwork in
- 02:32the School of Medicine's public spaces.
- 02:35The goal of this program is to ensure
- 02:37that our artwork reflects the diversity,
- 02:40history and accomplishments of
- 02:42the members of our community.
- 02:44This can be seen in Aperture 2.
- 02:47The latest in a series of portraits
- 02:49in the hallway leading to the
- 02:51Beaumont Room highlighting are women,
- 02:53faculty and self reflection.
- 02:55Featuring artwork created by faculty,
- 02:57students and staff.
- 02:58Currently on display on the 1st
- 03:01floor of Sterling Hall of Medicine
- 03:03outside the Medical Library.
- 03:05These exhibits have transformed our
- 03:08hallways with vibrant artwork about or by
- 03:11individuals who contribute to all that we do.
- 03:15Portraits of the late Deputy
- 03:16Dean Carolyn Slaman and renowned
- 03:18epidemiologist Dorothy horsemen,
- 03:20the first woman to be a full
- 03:22professor at Yale School of Medicine.
- 03:25Augment this work.
- 03:26Paying tribute to two important
- 03:28members of our faculty,
- 03:29but the portraits themselves.
- 03:32Speak as a style of artwork in an open NIS.
- 03:37Not seeing another portraits on our hallways.
- 03:42The opening of community in a time of crisis,
- 03:45Yale,
- 03:45New Haven and HIV aids further
- 03:48transforms a space at the heart
- 03:50of Sterling Hall of Medicine,
- 03:52the hallway outside the Deans office.
- 03:55The program for art in public spaces
- 03:59thus continues this work in telling
- 04:02the stories and history of our school.
- 04:06The exhibit explores a time
- 04:08not unlike our current time,
- 04:10in which we find ourselves.
- 04:12It showcases the journey from the
- 04:15beginning when the CDC published report
- 04:18about a puzzling an unnamed illness.
- 04:21Through the next 15 years,
- 04:23when many came together at Yale and in
- 04:26New Haven through research activism.
- 04:29Inpatient care to battle aids.
- 04:32This exhibit highlights 2
- 04:34qualities that enrich our school.
- 04:39One is the part of citizenship of
- 04:42our diverse community in our diverse
- 04:45community in New Haven, in particular,
- 04:47the other is collaboration among faculty,
- 04:50students, and Staffs.
- 04:53In terms of participating in creating
- 04:56this exhibit and featured in it.
- 04:58Shortly you will be hearing from
- 05:01some of the people who were at the
- 05:04front lines during a challenging time
- 05:06and his work shaped the progress.
- 05:09We have made an understanding
- 05:12and in treating HIV and AIDS.
- 05:15Before we begin the program,
- 05:17I would like to extend my thanks
- 05:19to Deputy Darren Latimore.
- 05:20I would also like to thank not only the
- 05:23committee but the graduate students
- 05:24in the history of science and Medicine
- 05:26program in the Department of History,
- 05:28who created this exhibit under the
- 05:30direction of Professor Naomi Rogers,
- 05:32the program for Art in public spaces.
- 05:34Executive Committee,
- 05:34as I said,
- 05:35which guided their work and the staff
- 05:37members of the Office of Communications
- 05:39who helped to bring it to fruition.
- 05:42Welcome everybody and enjoy.
- 05:49Thank you so much.
- 05:50Dean Brown and Dean Lattimore.
- 05:53If we can put up that next slide,
- 05:56I'm Anna Reisman.
- 05:58I Co direct perhaps the
- 06:00program from public spaces,
- 06:02along with Darren Lattimore and.
- 06:06I just wanted to draw your
- 06:09attention to this list of.
- 06:12Of people who were generous
- 06:14with their time and during the
- 06:18graduate student teams work,
- 06:20which I should say.
- 06:23Took place under unique circumstances.
- 06:25An really had the team lead
- 06:27were faced with all kinds of
- 06:29challenges early in the pandemic,
- 06:31which is when this began and really
- 06:33they were unable to do what they
- 06:35are here in Graduate School to
- 06:37do and to get into the archives.
- 06:40So almost every part of the research
- 06:42that led to this exhibit was done
- 06:44via zoom via phone interviews via
- 06:46Internet searching and the slide that
- 06:48you're looking at now includes many,
- 06:51many amazing people who the
- 06:52research team spoke with.
- 06:54Who were really,
- 06:55really generous with their time
- 06:56and and really made the exhibit
- 06:58what it is and you will hear
- 07:00from some of them today.
- 07:02First thing that we're going to do
- 07:04is show you a short video that is a
- 07:06walking tour of the physical exhibit,
- 07:08which is now displayed on the 2nd
- 07:10floor of Sterling Hall of Medicine,
- 07:12and it is narrated by Sarah Pickman
- 07:14who was the leader of the graduate
- 07:16student team and this runs for
- 07:18about four and a half minutes.
- 07:25Welcome to community.
- 07:27In a time of crisis, Yale,
- 07:29New Haven and HIV AIDS 1981 to 1996.
- 07:34This exhibition on display at the Yale
- 07:36School of Medicine tells the story of how
- 07:39the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and early
- 07:411990s affected the people of New Haven,
- 07:44CT and how a group of individuals
- 07:46from Yale University and the
- 07:48surrounding community came together
- 07:49to fight this deadly disease.
- 07:51The exhibition was organized by the School of
- 07:54Medicine's Program for Art in Public Spaces,
- 07:56or perhaps a group of faculty,
- 07:58staff and trainees that works to
- 08:00ensure that art work in public
- 08:02areas that the School of Medicine.
- 08:04Reflects the mission, history,
- 08:06and diversity of the schools community.
- 08:08Community in a time of crisis was
- 08:10curated by 5 doctoral students from
- 08:12Yale's program in History of Science
- 08:15and Medicine in collaboration with Paps.
- 08:17The exhibition draws on materials
- 08:19from Yale University's archives,
- 08:21New Haven Newspapers,
- 08:22Scholarship on the AIDS epidemic,
- 08:23and conversations with individuals who
- 08:25are part of this history who generously
- 08:28gave their time and shared materials
- 08:31from their personal collections.
- 08:33The exhibition begins in 1981,
- 08:35the year that the US Centers for
- 08:37Disease Control and Prevention.
- 08:39First noted in an official publication,
- 08:41what soon came to be known as acquired
- 08:44immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS?
- 08:46Within the year it was clear that
- 08:48the disease was affecting many
- 08:50individuals in the New Haven area,
- 08:52including a disproportionate number of
- 08:54people of color and intravenous drug users.
- 08:56Due to a lack of access to healthcare,
- 08:59poverty and defecto segregation in the city.
- 09:01However,
- 09:02as in other places in the United States,
- 09:04there was no coordinated care response
- 09:06to AIDS in these early years.
- 09:09People with AIDS in the early 1980s
- 09:11faced not only a disease with no cure
- 09:14and no effective treatment options,
- 09:16but also discrimination and
- 09:17institutional indifference.
- 09:18In these desperate circumstances,
- 09:19a group of people affiliated with
- 09:21Yale and neighboring organizations
- 09:23in New Haven came together.
- 09:24They came from different backgrounds
- 09:26and had different sets of expertise,
- 09:28but they put their skills,
- 09:30energy and compassion together in
- 09:31creative ways to fight the ongoing crisis.
- 09:34This exhibition tells some of these stories.
- 09:37Community in a time of crisis is
- 09:39divided into several sections.
- 09:41In one section,
- 09:42the exhibition explores the role of
- 09:44several New Haven based organizations
- 09:47that provided resources ranging
- 09:49from counseling to meal delivery.
- 09:51To those affected by AIDS,
- 09:53sometimes in collaboration with Yale.
- 09:56Another section discuss is New Haven's
- 09:58groundbreaking needle exchange program,
- 10:00which Again,
- 10:00in the mid 1980s,
- 10:02a dedicated coalition of Yale and
- 10:04New Haven students,
- 10:05activists and physicians worked
- 10:07together to distribute clean syringes to
- 10:09intravenous drug users around New Haven.
- 10:11Yale researchers found that the
- 10:13needle exchange program dramatically
- 10:14cut infection rates in New Haven,
- 10:16and the program became a model for
- 10:19similar needle exchanges around the US.
- 10:23In the early years of the AIDS crisis,
- 10:26caregiving activism and harm reduction
- 10:27initiatives were just as powerful in
- 10:29fighting the disease as clinical treatments.
- 10:31Another section of this exhibition highlights
- 10:33Yale student activists who worked to
- 10:36raise awareness about the disease and
- 10:37the lack of a coordinated response to it,
- 10:40sometimes risking arrest.
- 10:41The exhibition also describes the
- 10:43dedicated and compassionate actions
- 10:44of Yale physicians, nurses,
- 10:46social workers and administrators who
- 10:48coordinated care for patients with
- 10:50AIDS in the 1980s and early 1990s,
- 10:52often working with limited resources
- 10:54and support,
- 10:55their work evolved in the mid 1990s
- 10:57with the introduction of combination
- 10:59therapies that transformed AIDS
- 11:01from a fatal illness into a chronic
- 11:04one that could be managed with
- 11:06medication and clinical support.
- 11:09Community in a time of crisis
- 11:10concludes with a discussion of
- 11:12the legacies of AIDS treatment,
- 11:14activism,
- 11:14research and care at Yale and in New Haven,
- 11:17as well as with a piece of original
- 11:19artwork inspired by the AIDS crisis and
- 11:21a special aids quilt that was created
- 11:23for the community organization AIDS Project.
- 11:25New Haven and generously
- 11:27lent by its caretaker.
- 11:29Even if you can't visit in person
- 11:31at the Yale School of Medicine,
- 11:33we encourage you to explore
- 11:34the exhibition's website.
- 11:35We hope you have enjoyed this brief
- 11:37introduction to the exhibition
- 11:38community in a time of crisis.
- 11:48OK so I am so pleased to move us into
- 11:52the second half of our opening event.
- 11:55Some of the people who contributed to
- 11:57this exhibit who played all kinds of
- 12:00roles in those early days are here today,
- 12:02and many are tuned in here today and
- 12:04we are honored that four of them
- 12:06have agreed to share some brief
- 12:08reflections about their experiences
- 12:09with AIDS and HIV and Community at
- 12:12Yale and in New Haven, then and now.
- 12:15I invite you to put your questions
- 12:18in the Q&A at the bottom of the zoom
- 12:21screen and we should have a little
- 12:24time at the end to take questions.
- 12:27I will start by introducing our
- 12:29first speaker, Edward Kaplan.
- 12:32Professor Kaplan is the William N Annemarie,
- 12:35a beach professor of operations research,
- 12:37public health and engineering at
- 12:39Yale University School of Management.
- 12:41His research in HIV prevention in general,
- 12:44and needle exchange in particular has been
- 12:47recognized with numerous research prices.
- 12:49Currently,
- 12:50he is working on responding to local
- 12:53coronavirus outbreaks and his advise
- 12:55the University as a member of yells,
- 12:57COVID-19 Public Health Committee.
- 13:02Go ahead at thank
- 13:04you very much. Anna Ann.
- 13:05I want to thank the exhibits curators,
- 13:08Christine, Megan, Sarah,
- 13:09Maya and Beans for creating this
- 13:12informative and deeply moving
- 13:13display and good evening everyone.
- 13:15It's so great to have you all here.
- 13:19In nineteen 9029% of the 200,000 US AIDS
- 13:23cases today were among drug injectors.
- 13:27But that percentage grew to 47% in
- 13:30Connecticut and 61% in the New Haven area.
- 13:34New Haven's signature response
- 13:36was the needle exchange program,
- 13:38and the exhibit documents
- 13:40how this program came about,
- 13:42how it was delivered,
- 13:44its scientific evaluation,
- 13:45and the public health policy consequences.
- 13:48I urge you to watch the
- 13:50needle exchange video,
- 13:52for you will see and hear from
- 13:54program clients outreach workers,
- 13:56the AIDS Division director,
- 13:57New Haven's Police Chief,
- 13:59and the researchers.
- 14:00The needle exchange was emblematic of
- 14:03how people came together to address
- 14:06the HIV AIDS crisis in New Haven.
- 14:09When it came to evaluating
- 14:10the needle exchange,
- 14:12necessity really was the mother of invention.
- 14:14Elaine O'Keefe,
- 14:15New Haven's AIDS Division director,
- 14:17prohibited conducting HIV
- 14:18tests on program clients.
- 14:19You see, there were no real treatments,
- 14:22no life preserving anti retroviral drugs,
- 14:24but receiving a positive test would add
- 14:27that is stigma of injecting drug use.
- 14:30In short,
- 14:30if clients were to be tested,
- 14:33there would have been no clients.
- 14:35Not being allowed to test people
- 14:37forced us to think of alternatives.
- 14:39This led to the design of a system
- 14:41for tracking and testing needles to
- 14:43evaluate the program, in essence,
- 14:45letting the needles do the talking.
- 14:47Of course I had no idea how
- 14:50to test needles for HIV.
- 14:52I ran around Dale,
- 14:53asking chemists, biologists,
- 14:54engineers how to test needles.
- 14:56Eventually former chair of Internal
- 14:59Medicine Ed Cabman introduced me to
- 15:02a laboratory wizard named Rob Heimer.
- 15:04That had a PCR machine and Rob now
- 15:07Professor Hymer figured out how
- 15:09to use it to detect HIV proviral
- 15:12DNA in used needles.
- 15:13This was one of your first
- 15:15applications of PCR.
- 15:16Everyone knows where PCR is today.
- 15:19Thanks to covid testing or black thereof.
- 15:22But our use of PCR in the early
- 15:241990s was sometimes characterized
- 15:26as politically correct research.
- 15:28Rob talks about his work in
- 15:30the video exhibit,
- 15:31which you can see a photo of the
- 15:34doctoral student and now Professor
- 15:36Kaveh Kushner at work in the lab,
- 15:39along with technician Beanie Jariwala.
- 15:42Fast forward for a moment,
- 15:44almost exactly one year ago.
- 15:46Given the lack of coronavirus testing,
- 15:48Soto Mayor Albert Cohen,
- 15:49I wondered whether some form of
- 15:51environmental monitoring might
- 15:53help track community outbreaks.
- 15:55Again,
- 15:55a search to find the right
- 15:57person who knew how to do this.
- 15:59We quickly learned quickly learned
- 16:01that all roads lead to Jordan Pet.
- 16:03She and environmental engineering
- 16:05in less than two weeks,
- 16:06Jordan had students collecting
- 16:08sludge samples that,
- 16:08in time,
- 16:09revealed the speed and force of
- 16:11that first covid wave viral RNA
- 16:13and sewage sludge is now being
- 16:15tracked at 6 wastewater treatment
- 16:17plants across the state and seeing
- 16:19this collaboration take shape
- 16:20for me was deja vu
- 16:22all over again.
- 16:24Back to the 1980s and 90s,
- 16:26there was a remarkable and formative
- 16:28experience as a young junior professor
- 16:31and yells management school.
- 16:33My hero was Alvin Novick,
- 16:35a biology professor,
- 16:36chair of the New Haven Mayor's
- 16:39Task Force on AIDS and a World War
- 16:42Two prisoner of War Camp survivor.
- 16:45As inscribed on his memorial
- 16:46bench and at Griffin Park.
- 16:48Also shown in the exhibit,
- 16:50Al was ahead of his time.
- 16:52My go to seminar was yaks,
- 16:55the Yale aids Colloquium series.
- 16:57You can see a flyer announcing AXA
- 16:59needs in a conic section of the display.
- 17:03Many of the interlocutors
- 17:05and others present tonight.
- 17:07Will regular attendees of the IAC seminars.
- 17:10One last thought.
- 17:11During the years covered by this exhibit.
- 17:15There was a spirit of cooperation
- 17:17among affected communities.
- 17:18On the one hand, and yells clinicians,
- 17:20medical and social science researchers
- 17:22working on HIV aids on the other.
- 17:25We had a shared purpose and
- 17:27we were on the same team.
- 17:30Thank you.
- 17:35Thank you so much, Chad.
- 17:39Really appreciate those remarks.
- 17:40Next up will be Leetha Filderman,
- 17:43who currently serves as the
- 17:45president of the Poptech Institute,
- 17:47where she overseas a portfolio
- 17:48focused on global health,
- 17:50environment, social justice,
- 17:51peace and security.
- 17:52Her approach to cross sector solution
- 17:55development is profoundly influenced
- 17:57by her work on the front lines of the
- 17:59AIDS epidemic over nearly two decades,
- 18:02she developed a number of programs
- 18:04that opened access to state of the art
- 18:08care for persons living with HIV AIDS.
- 18:10In service to the Yale New Haven
- 18:13Hospital aids care program as well as
- 18:16similar programs in Boston and Chicago.
- 18:18I'll turn it over to you, Lisa.
- 18:22Well, thank you Anna.
- 18:23It's an absolute honor to join
- 18:25all of you today for the opening
- 18:27of Community in a time of crisis.
- 18:29I wish we were able to be together to
- 18:32experience this amazing exhibit first hand.
- 18:34I was intrigued when I got a note from
- 18:37Sarah Pittman last summer about the
- 18:40curation of an exhibit capturing the early
- 18:43days of the HIV epidemic in New Haven.
- 18:46This exhibit is historically significant.
- 18:47It serves to remind us of the
- 18:50sociopolitical challenges that run tandem
- 18:52take global health crises like covid,
- 18:54these events uncover long-term in equities,
- 18:57fuel discrimination,
- 18:57set the stage for stigma and lay bare,
- 19:00lay bare the enormous human suffering and
- 19:03premature loss of life that they cause.
- 19:06AIDS, perhaps more than any other modern era.
- 19:10Global health crisis,
- 19:11including Kovid,
- 19:12had the astonishing ability to
- 19:15make the invisible visible.
- 19:17While my first encounters with
- 19:19and as an AIDS care provider,
- 19:21go back to my time at La County
- 19:24USC Medical Center in Los Angeles.
- 19:26It was in the summer of 1985 at the
- 19:29suggestion of my beloved mentor whose
- 19:31bed mentioned Alvin Novick that I applied
- 19:34for the AIDS coordinator position at Yale,
- 19:36New Haven Hospital.
- 19:37In September of 1985,
- 19:39I became the third person to hold
- 19:41that role in the span of just a
- 19:44few years prior to coming to Yale,
- 19:47I helped establish.
- 19:48The first comprehensive home care
- 19:50program in Connecticut for people
- 19:52with AIDS under the auspices
- 19:54of the Viennet of New Haven.
- 19:56I did not step into the program
- 19:58that you see portrayed here today.
- 20:00Nor did I alone create the atmosphere
- 20:03that led to the eventual establishment
- 20:05of the AIDS Care program at Yale.
- 20:08I was simply a catalyst or a sum
- 20:10that found my suggestions for a
- 20:13chronic improvement challenging.
- 20:15I suppose I was considered a quote
- 20:18unquote handful to put it politely.
- 20:20Many remarkable individuals and
- 20:23organizations collaborated to create
- 20:25an ecosystem that eventually ensured
- 20:27access to state of the art care,
- 20:29including experimental drugs
- 20:31in other types of treatments,
- 20:33access to school for children with HIV,
- 20:36AIDS, needle exchange programs,
- 20:38secure housing in a multitude of
- 20:40community based services that provided care,
- 20:43benefits, support,
- 20:44and education.
- 20:45I would be remiss not to share the
- 20:48stage with side-by-side colleagues
- 20:50within and outside of Yale.
- 20:53They were my support system,
- 20:54my expertise pool,
- 20:55and my inspiration to fight the
- 20:57fight when it seemed insurmountable.
- 21:00There are two people I owe a
- 21:02tremendous debt of gratitude to
- 21:04Warren and men who came to me in
- 21:07early 1986 to ask if he could spend
- 21:10his sabbatical year learning about
- 21:12AIDS and experience that undoubtedly
- 21:14changed his life as well as mine.
- 21:16And when that set the stage for what
- 21:19would become the AIDS care program,
- 21:21Warren,
- 21:21of course is well known for his
- 21:24skills as a clinician in a researcher.
- 21:26But it really is his commitment to
- 21:29children with HIV aids in their family
- 21:32that sets him apart as a true humanitarian.
- 21:35The second person I would like to
- 21:37acknowledge is Avis Bers who served as
- 21:40the administrative assistant for the
- 21:42AIDS care program in its earliest years.
- 21:45She said an example of professionalism,
- 21:47kindness, and optimism that guided
- 21:49every single member of our staff.
- 21:52She truly was a rock of Gibraltar.
- 21:54Our little staff was stellar.
- 21:56Warren Avis.
- 21:57Joyce Simpson June Homes Bill Sibella.
- 22:00Joan Alfieri an later Rick Altys
- 22:02in Helena Brett Smith too.
- 22:04It was my honor to serve in
- 22:07the foxhole with that posse.
- 22:09Many clinicians donated their
- 22:10time in the AIDS clinic,
- 22:12helping me avoid practicing
- 22:14medicine without a license,
- 22:15which was eyes truly a risk.
- 22:18In the days when our our clinic
- 22:20was very thinly staffed,
- 22:22there were people like end Williams,
- 22:25John Rankin, Vinny Quagliarella,
- 22:26Low, David Podell, Frank Villa.
- 22:28John Boos Lloyd Friedman Phil asking
- 22:31ace Phil Dickey David August,
- 22:33Stephen Stein and the person who would
- 22:35later become my life long partner in crime.
- 22:39My husband, Andy Filderman Ann.
- 22:40Yes,
- 22:41there were a number of yentas for that one,
- 22:44including a patient in common than a few
- 22:47of the colleagues I have mentioned before.
- 22:50Then there was Bob Levine,
- 22:52Angela Holder and Nancy Angoff who
- 22:54provided so much support to the
- 22:57AIDS program staff as treatment
- 22:59options became more accessible.
- 23:00We gotta.
- 23:01We got really good at treating
- 23:03the medical problems,
- 23:05but there were not easy remedies
- 23:07for the multitude of ethical
- 23:08dilemmas and challenges that we were
- 23:11confronted with on a daily basis.
- 23:13End of life conversations duty
- 23:15to warn duty to do no harm.
- 23:17The balance of truthfulness and hope.
- 23:19These issues kept me awake at night
- 23:22and I am always grateful to Bob,
- 23:24Angela and Nancy for providing us
- 23:27with an ethical framework that made
- 23:29navigating the current so much easier.
- 23:32There is little chance the AIDS
- 23:34program would have evolved to its
- 23:36status as a stand alone program
- 23:38if it were not for the enduring
- 23:40support of people like John Finn,
- 23:42Ed, Cadman, Dean Rosenberg,
- 23:43Ed Rawlings,
- 23:44and the trustees at Yale New Haven Hospital.
- 23:47I I don't think we would have succeeded
- 23:50in creating a multidisciplinary program
- 23:51without the expertise beyond Yale's Walls,
- 23:54AIDS project.
- 23:55New Haven taught me how to be an
- 23:57advocate and has provided endless
- 23:59support in the form of direct services
- 24:01to people with AIDS and Community education.
- 24:04Ever since,
- 24:05Harlon Dalton and his colleagues
- 24:07at the Yellow Law School took on a
- 24:10variety of legal issues on behalf of
- 24:12people with AIDS in the New Haven community.
- 24:15In the state of Connecticut.
- 24:18And our colleagues at the methadone
- 24:20maintenance clinic taught us a thing
- 24:22or two about empathy and respect.
- 24:24This list could certainly go
- 24:25on for a long time.
- 24:27Of course,
- 24:27my greatest appreciation goes to
- 24:29our patients and their families.
- 24:31They were truly endless fonts
- 24:33of wisdom and our best teachers.
- 24:36It does serve rare day even now that
- 24:38I don't reflect on our conversations.
- 24:41The dignity they exhibited when
- 24:43they were there were setbacks,
- 24:45and the moments of humor we shared.
- 24:56Warren and I often refer to the early days.
- 25:01As a good or battle date.
- 25:04It's really, excuse me.
- 25:06It really is a perfect way to sum
- 25:09up those cumulative experiences
- 25:11those years at Yale remain the
- 25:14proudest of Mycareer an I'm forever
- 25:16grateful to my colleagues and
- 25:18mentors for their generosity,
- 25:20their senses of humor in their
- 25:22consummate commitment to humanity,
- 25:23our shared experiences truly
- 25:25did make a difference,
- 25:26and they shape my life in many ways.
- 25:29Many thanks to the Yale Medical
- 25:31School program for art in public
- 25:33spaces for their commitment to
- 25:35memorial memorializing our work.
- 25:37Thank you so much.
- 25:43Thank you so much, Lisa Felderman,
- 25:45that was beautifully put
- 25:46with good old bad old days.
- 25:51Sorry after phrase.
- 25:52OK so I am now happy to introduce
- 25:56Doctor Gerald Friedland.
- 25:59Professor Emeritus of medicine,
- 26:00Epidemiology and public health.
- 26:02He has been directly involved in
- 26:05clinical care and research for people
- 26:07living with HIV and AIDS since 1981.
- 26:10He helped develop and lead one of the
- 26:13first programs in the US with a focus
- 26:16on marginalized and stigmatized men,
- 26:17women and children living with an at
- 26:20risk for HIV and AIDS 10 years later,
- 26:23in 1991, he came to yell to develop and
- 26:25direct a similar and expanded Yale,
- 26:28a program which is now a comprehensive,
- 26:30compassionate and greatly admired
- 26:32program in New Haven at Yale and Yale,
- 26:34New Haven Hospital and beyond.
- 26:36For people living with an at
- 26:38risk for HIV and AIDS.
- 26:44Sorry. OK. Thank you for inviting me,
- 26:49Anna. Thank you for the introduction
- 26:51and thank you for bringing some
- 26:53of our colleagues together for
- 26:55this wonderful, wonderful event.
- 26:57Honey, let me see. Not seeing my text.
- 27:10Home. Sorry.
- 27:25OK. So as you heard, I arrived at
- 27:30Yale in 1991 after a tense spending.
- 27:33The first 10 years with the
- 27:36HIV epidemic in the Bronx.
- 27:38New York and at a time when New Haven
- 27:41was among the 12 cities in the US in
- 27:44which AIDS had become the leading cause
- 27:46of death in young men and young women.
- 27:50Ages 25 to 44. In Yale,
- 27:54New Haven Hospital on a given day,
- 27:57there were 50 people hospitalized
- 28:00almost randomly throughout the
- 28:02hospital and most was soon to die.
- 28:04Nathan Smith Clinic already underway in
- 28:07its early stages was severely underfunded
- 28:09for the required needs of the New Haven.
- 28:13Despite the wonderful people working there,
- 28:15including Lisa and Warren, Andaman.
- 28:19Had you heard?
- 28:20Although the patients and
- 28:21populations in New Haven were and
- 28:23remain diverse in risk and race,
- 28:25the M at the epidemic was being driven
- 28:28by injection drug use among young
- 28:30people with color not unlike the Bronx
- 28:32in New York where I previously worked.
- 28:35And I think one can contemplate
- 28:38that pandemics,
- 28:39both HIV AIDS and now covid share many feet.
- 28:43Features. Among them is the initial denial.
- 28:47Followed by despair and initial
- 28:50and terrible leadership.
- 28:52As we've experienced with
- 28:54both of these epidemics.
- 28:56They uncover all the flaws in
- 28:59healthcare system and indeed society.
- 29:01In both diseases have shed glaring
- 29:04light on longstanding and continuing
- 29:07poverty inequity racism with resultant
- 29:11disproportionate devastating
- 29:13consequences for individual communities.
- 29:16Building on the extending and
- 29:18pioneering HIV AIDS work illustrated
- 29:21in this beautiful exhibit and
- 29:23described so beautifully by Ed Kaplan
- 29:25and Letha and needing to confront
- 29:27the challenges of the stigmatized,
- 29:30cruel and then almost invariably fatal
- 29:32disease in New Haven and beyond,
- 29:35we were able to obtain new resource
- 29:37is from the hospital from the
- 29:40medical school from the state,
- 29:42from the federal government
- 29:44and from foundations,
- 29:45and recruited a wonderful and broad
- 29:48array of additional colleagues doctors.
- 29:50Nurses, social workers,
- 29:51other health care workers,
- 29:53scientists and many others.
- 29:56How did we?
- 29:57How did we overcome the challenges
- 30:00that we face?
- 30:02But I think it was said in this work.
- 30:04I think I'm most important.
- 30:06Teachers have been the patients themselves
- 30:08listening to the patients and their needs.
- 30:11And trying to meet them and learning
- 30:14and understanding the nature of the HIV
- 30:17virus and AIDS and their lethal tricks.
- 30:20And to do this,
- 30:21I have a sort of list of sees
- 30:25as I'll go through,
- 30:27and some of them mentioned.
- 30:29The first is compassion,
- 30:31but that's not enough competence is needed.
- 30:34Comprehensiveness and continuity.
- 30:37Also needed and so important among all of
- 30:39these and already mentioned it is colleagues.
- 30:42It's impossible to do this work alone.
- 30:45What sustains us in doing our
- 30:47work is doing it together.
- 30:50Often the presence of college
- 30:52is always listed as the first
- 30:54reason for working in Hades.
- 30:56Among those who do it,
- 30:58creating new knowledge.
- 31:00Both of these diseases,
- 31:01diseases, HIV AIDS,
- 31:03and COVID are new diseases in human history.
- 31:06They share similarities,
- 31:08but they are unique.
- 31:10The importance of finding out of learning,
- 31:14creating new knowledge about HIV
- 31:17and AIDS is paramount in addressing
- 31:20it and looking to their hand.
- 31:24And then the last thing I'd say and
- 31:26was sort of mentioned his courage and
- 31:29resilience and humanity and wisdom.
- 31:31For providers and also patients.
- 31:35I remember learning this when
- 31:37one of my patients said to me.
- 31:40You know, Doc doctor,
- 31:42you know that aids aids.
- 31:44It's like life only faster.
- 31:48And another transporting the patient
- 31:50from the Nathan Smith Clinic to the
- 31:54emergency Department in a wheelchair.
- 31:56Breathing frequent breathing rapidly
- 31:58properly with Pneumocystis Carinae pneumonia.
- 32:01When we passed the food trucks he
- 32:05held his hand up it said stop.
- 32:09In turn to myself,
- 32:10another college and said hey Doc can
- 32:13I buy you lunch so our patients will
- 32:16wise they had humanity and they had a
- 32:19sense of humor and we cherish them.
- 32:23To accomplish the seas over
- 32:25the past three decades,
- 32:27the AIDS program components
- 32:28were expanded and brought it.
- 32:30Now led by data spilling away that
- 32:33include the Atkins Donaldson HIV AIDS,
- 32:36inpatient service,
- 32:37markedly improving.
- 32:39And shortening hospitalization.
- 32:41I'm in Hanst and also a site for
- 32:44training of new doctors who will be the
- 32:46next generation of AIDS doctors and
- 32:49enhanced resource than comprehensive
- 32:51Nathan Smith Clinic now led by Lindy.
- 32:54About Linda Barrick Cotton Wynette
- 32:57Stewart with close to 1000 patients.
- 32:59HIV positive care on site,
- 33:02substance use and mental health services.
- 33:05HCV treatment.
- 33:07Collaboration with other services,
- 33:09including the pediatric
- 33:11AIDS program and many,
- 33:13many other components of HI in aid
- 33:16of AIDS care and necessary and
- 33:19insert it into the clinic as a one
- 33:23Stop Community Clinic site so we
- 33:26try to pack the clinic with as many
- 33:30services as when necessary rather
- 33:33than have patients get lossed trying
- 33:35to explore the sometimes unfathomable.
- 33:39Characters and entrances and exits at Yale.
- 33:43Added to that was the needle exchange
- 33:46program, directed by Rick Altise,
- 33:48an ongoing patient,
- 33:49and population partnerships with
- 33:51multiple community programs such
- 33:53as AIDS Project in Hammond.
- 33:55In a large and varied portfolio of research,
- 33:59including NIH and Industry Pro funded
- 34:02programs, cutting edge clinical trials,
- 34:05only therapies and prevention
- 34:07strategies led by meiko Zalan,
- 34:09Ounianga Bogu,
- 34:10and in total more than 100 clinical trials,
- 34:14many tailored to the needs of people
- 34:17who inject drugs.
- 34:19And of course, new cutting edge therapies
- 34:22were founded were started or completed.
- 34:26I'm here at Yale.
- 34:27This experience and expertise have
- 34:30now been refocused successfully on
- 34:33Sarah's Covert 2 vaccine trials.
- 34:36With all of this in place,
- 34:38we've seen and participated in
- 34:40the miraculous conversion of Hi
- 34:42Apas into a chronic disease still
- 34:45challenging in so many ways,
- 34:47but enabling a young man or woman
- 34:49with HIV infection with proper
- 34:51treatment and care to achieve a
- 34:54normal or near normal life expectancy.
- 34:57As an aging senior citizen.
- 35:00Who would have thought that was
- 35:02possible when we first started stigma,
- 35:05though,
- 35:06is still present but partially
- 35:08mitigated by scientific studies
- 35:10that we participated in about
- 35:13transpress transmission risk and non
- 35:15risk and also advances in treatment.
- 35:18I like to say but need to
- 35:20be careful and apolitical.
- 35:22I believe that treatment can Trump stigma.
- 35:26And a final legacy is to note that
- 35:29the full force of the of the HIV
- 35:32epidemic has moved overseas, although.
- 35:35Terrable damage has been done here in
- 35:39New Haven and in the United States.
- 35:42It continues the reach of the program.
- 35:45AIDS program has been extended to
- 35:48global settings with Seminole work
- 35:50in advocating and introducing anti
- 35:52retroviral therapy made by Sheila
- 35:54Shenoy and Rick LTS based Appan.
- 35:57I should say the strategies initially
- 35:59learned and employed in New Haven
- 36:02in the early days earlier pandemic.
- 36:04Thank you.
- 36:09Thank you so much Jerry.
- 36:13Our last speaker is Chris Cole.
- 36:18Christopher call it's been executive
- 36:20Director of AIDS Project, New Haven,
- 36:22or a PNH known as a place to
- 36:25nourish your health for 13 years.
- 36:28He's been a community Advisory Board
- 36:30and Executive committee member of
- 36:32Center for Interdisciplinary Research
- 36:33on AIDS at Yale for over a decade.
- 36:36Mr Cole is Co chair of the Ryan White,
- 36:39New Haven, Fairfield County
- 36:41Planning Council and the New
- 36:42Haven Regional care continuum.
- 36:47Yeah, good afternoon.
- 36:48Thanks for inviting me to participate.
- 36:50I'm so grateful for all the brave,
- 36:52compassionate and loving people who
- 36:54came together to respond to HIV and
- 36:56AIDS over the decades and those who
- 36:58founded AIDS Project New Haven in 1980.
- 37:00Three were the oldest AIDS service
- 37:02organization in the state of Connecticut.
- 37:05We've come a long,
- 37:06long way from the days when our
- 37:08organization AIDS Interfaith and
- 37:10Hispanos Unidos were founded.
- 37:12Today, AP Nature is the only organization
- 37:15still open and serving the community.
- 37:17We're still serving the most marginalized,
- 37:20stigmatized and overlooked within
- 37:22our community.
- 37:23Our Caring Cuisine program is
- 37:24still feeding those who cannot
- 37:26prepare meals for themselves.
- 37:28Both individuals with HIV and
- 37:30living with other chronic illnesses.
- 37:33We continue to distribute condoms throughout
- 37:35the city and participate in advocacy,
- 37:37and we continue to offer counseling.
- 37:39We continue to help folks overcome
- 37:41the multiple barriers they face
- 37:43in taking care of themselves
- 37:45and manage their HIV disease.
- 37:47What a fantastic and important exhibit.
- 37:49So many of our younger staff have
- 37:51no idea of this history and it's
- 37:53such important information to know
- 37:55so that we can understand and learn
- 37:57from the past to address the present.
- 38:01The work of a PNH would not be possible
- 38:03without the collaboration we have with Yale,
- 38:06the medical clinics,
- 38:07the El AIDS program Sera the Center for
- 38:09Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS at Yale,
- 38:11the Community health care van,
- 38:13they yell Child study Center,
- 38:14and so many others.
- 38:16What I'm most proud of is the community,
- 38:19another C for you.
- 38:21Doctor friedland.
- 38:22In the list of your sees,
- 38:25AP&H began as a community response
- 38:27and remains rooted in community.
- 38:29We work as a community of organizations,
- 38:32clinics and advocates to make the
- 38:34greatest impact and support those living
- 38:37with HIV and anyone who faces stigma
- 38:39in receiving culturally competent care.
- 38:42I came to New Haven in 2008,
- 38:44well after the 15 years
- 38:46covered in this exhibit.
- 38:47There are many others who have
- 38:49led and served at a pH before me.
- 38:52All humble servants who made
- 38:54significant contributions to
- 38:55caring for those living with HIV.
- 38:57I'm grateful to Co.
- 38:58Campbell for her contributions to this
- 39:01exhibit and for representing AP&H so well,
- 39:03especially the days before I was there.
- 39:06I can tell you, though,
- 39:08that while we have come a long
- 39:11way and things have changed,
- 39:13HIV continues to be an ongoing
- 39:15public health concern and stigma,
- 39:17racism,
- 39:18homophobia and transphobia continue to be a
- 39:21public health crisis intertwined with HIV.
- 39:24I want to tell you a little story
- 39:26and I'm going to share my screen,
- 39:27so give me one second to pull it up.
- 39:31This is our building at 1302 Chapel St.
- 39:34On my second day on the job at its project,
- 39:37New Haven,
- 39:37the New Haven Register came to
- 39:39do a little story on the new
- 39:41executive director and they wanted
- 39:43to take my picture and I said,
- 39:44let's go out on the front porch and
- 39:47take the picture and I was asked by.
- 39:49I can't see my screen. Want some?
- 39:54Can another see my screen?
- 39:57No, OK, no we're not seeing that.
- 40:00There you go. OK, thank you, I'm so sorry.
- 40:05And while I was out on the front porch with
- 40:08a with a camera from the New Haven register.
- 40:11Someone from the staff came out
- 40:13and said you can't take your
- 40:14picture on the front porch.
- 40:16People will know that were AIDS
- 40:18project New Haven and I thought people
- 40:20don't know or AIDS project New Haven.
- 40:22And I was told that you know if folks
- 40:25saw people walking into our building
- 40:27and knew that it was AIDS project,
- 40:29New Haven that they would be judged
- 40:31and an they wouldn't come and
- 40:33get their care any longer.
- 40:37As you can see in this
- 40:39photo on a nice winter day,
- 40:41we have our name and a sign on the
- 40:43building now and I'm proud of that.
- 40:45I think that it's our job to
- 40:47overcome stigma and as an
- 40:49institution we began to do that.
- 40:51In 2018, we changed our name and
- 40:53updated our logo and mission to
- 40:55expand our services to anyone facing
- 40:57stigma and challenges and receiving
- 40:59culturally competent care firmly rooted
- 41:01in our beginning and looking forward
- 41:03to utilizing our core competencies
- 41:05to reach a broader community.
- 41:09In 2019, the latest compiled public
- 41:12health data available for the State of
- 41:15Connecticut says that there are 10,705
- 41:18people living in with HIV in Connecticut.
- 41:21And 222 new cases of HIV in 2019 alone.
- 41:2628% diagnosed with aids within
- 41:28one year of HIV diagnosis,
- 41:30so these are folks who have waited
- 41:34quite awhile to test positive
- 41:36for HIV and get into care.
- 41:393322 people are living with diagnosed
- 41:42HIV infection in New Haven in 2019 and
- 41:46there's an estimated 378 living in New
- 41:49Haven who don't know their HIV status.
- 41:53Of those diagnosed in with HIV in 2000,
- 41:57nineteen 76% are male, 24% female.
- 42:00The more important numbers are 60% are black,
- 42:0420% are Latin X and 12% are white.
- 42:0856% our MSM or men who have sex with men.
- 42:1516% heterosexual,
- 42:168% presumed hedera sexual and only 4%.
- 42:21Are people who inject drugs.
- 42:22This is a big change from the early
- 42:25days of HIV and AIDS in New Haven.
- 42:2840% of the total R 20 are between the ages
- 42:32of 20 to 29 and 78% of men who have sex
- 42:36with men are between the ages of 20 and 29.
- 42:39Young black and Latin X gay men
- 42:42and transgender individuals are
- 42:43disproportionately impacted by
- 42:45HIV and account for the majority
- 42:47of new infections in New Haven,
- 42:49CT.
- 42:49Today,
- 42:50a friend of mine once said HIV
- 42:52and AIDS has always been about
- 42:55judgment and racism and homophobia
- 42:57more than it's been about a virus.
- 43:00In coordination with the Ryan White Part,
- 43:03A office for the New Haven,
- 43:05Fairfield counties,
- 43:06we have conducted a series of
- 43:08conversations with groups at AP&H.
- 43:13This is a storyboard illustrating
- 43:15a conversation held in January
- 43:17with our empowerment participants,
- 43:19young gay men, some living with HIV
- 43:22and some not living in New Haven.
- 43:25You can clearly see that homophobia,
- 43:28stigma, transphobia and racism continue
- 43:30to be barriers to prevent HIV to health,
- 43:34Wellness, and self esteem of young gay men.
- 43:44There we go, this next storyboard.
- 43:48It's from a conversation in January with
- 43:51our transgender support group again
- 43:54clearly showing HIV stigma transphobia.
- 43:57And judgment are significant issues.
- 43:59We need to stop labeling.
- 44:02We need to see real images of
- 44:05transgender folks in mainstream
- 44:06media and non stereotype roles.
- 44:09We need to talk to folks who,
- 44:11as as they are who they are,
- 44:14and stop perpetuating shame.
- 44:17And this final storyboard is from
- 44:20our chapter Change Workgroup Group
- 44:22of Young Black and Latin X-Men who
- 44:25have come together to assist us in
- 44:28increasing Prep Pro pre exposure,
- 44:30prophylaxis uptake among their peers.
- 44:32And it shows that addressing disparities
- 44:34and intersectionality with raisan clefts,
- 44:37class movements, ending stigma,
- 44:38sex, positive iti,
- 44:40social networks and media can
- 44:42increase prevention efforts and help
- 44:44us in ending new HIV infections.
- 44:50While our crisis is different today,
- 44:52until our society begins to treat
- 44:54people as people eliminate racism,
- 44:56transphobia, and homophobia,
- 44:57we continue to have a community in crisis.
- 45:01All like we did in the early
- 45:03days of the AIDS epidemic.
- 45:05All of us at Apna HC,
- 45:07it is our responsibility
- 45:09is to educate ourselves,
- 45:10understand our past and make healthcare,
- 45:12housing, education, technology and
- 45:13opportunity equally accessible to all.
- 45:15It is then that we will be able to
- 45:18end HIV that we will be able to
- 45:21end COVID-19 and that we will be
- 45:23able to end so many of the other
- 45:26ills that our society faces today.
- 45:28All of us at AP&H are humbled and
- 45:31honored to stand on the shoulders and
- 45:33carry on the work begun by these Giants,
- 45:36and so many others who have provided long
- 45:39and loving care to so many in our community.
- 45:46Thank you so much Chris.
- 45:49So glad that you brought this storyboards.
- 45:50This really added.
- 45:53A lot to your remarks.
- 45:55Thank you so much so we do have
- 45:57some time for questions and
- 46:00really so much gratitude towards
- 46:02the four of you for sharing.
- 46:04So much of your experiences and
- 46:07challenges from those early days,
- 46:09and one of the questions that's come in.
- 46:12Actually, it's related to challenges,
- 46:14and the attendee asks what was the
- 46:17hardest challenge that you faced as
- 46:20you confronted HIV and AIDS at Yale
- 46:23in New Haven back in those early days.
- 46:30I can take a stab at this.
- 46:31This is Ed Kaplan.
- 46:33So as I said, I arrived at Yale in 1987,
- 46:36so I I was a young guy then
- 46:39I actually had her.
- 46:41Now I have hearing aids,
- 46:43so it's not the same thing.
- 46:46And while there were some
- 46:48off the cuff remarks,
- 46:49some some of the company marks in
- 46:51the extent that what are you doing
- 46:54working on this problem for drug injectors,
- 46:56when you should be using your
- 46:58math for other problems?
- 46:59Here you're throwing your career away.
- 47:01That was really the minority
- 47:03I found my Yale colleagues to
- 47:04be tremendously supportive,
- 47:06but I and I think others,
- 47:08at least on the research side
- 47:10of the needle exchange,
- 47:11were not prepared for was some of the
- 47:14politics and the attention that we would get.
- 47:16Not so much at the local level,
- 47:19we expected that we we were well prepared,
- 47:21but at the national level
- 47:23we were taking it back.
- 47:25For example,
- 47:25when the initial results were released.
- 47:27Some of you may remember Congressman
- 47:29Charles Rangel from Harlem.
- 47:31He was the chair of the House
- 47:33Select Committee on Narcotics,
- 47:34and he requisitioned the
- 47:36General Accounting Office.
- 47:37The Geo now is the General
- 47:39Accountability Office.
- 47:39Basically to come up and investigate us.
- 47:41He did not believe.
- 47:43Or maybe he did not want to
- 47:45believe that there could be a
- 47:47program doing good that involved.
- 47:49Making it possible for drug injectors
- 47:51to continue injecting drugs,
- 47:53but in a safer way so that you
- 47:56could attack the twin problems of
- 47:58injection drug use on one hand.
- 48:01But HIV transmission in particular
- 48:03on the other.
- 48:05And so there were people from
- 48:06the jail who came up.
- 48:08And here I am,
- 48:09standing at a blackboard and literally
- 48:10was like doing my orals all over again.
- 48:12Where did this number come from?
- 48:14Where did this?
- 48:15You know?
- 48:15Why do you believe this?
- 48:16Why do you believe that?
- 48:18When in the end,
- 48:20of course it worked out for
- 48:23the better because.
- 48:25Diego actually said that we had
- 48:27lowballed things they thought the
- 48:29program is more effective than we
- 48:30had given it credit for because we
- 48:33didn't pay appropriate attention to
- 48:35how much of an effect the people
- 48:37getting into drug treatment him.
- 48:39That was one instance,
- 48:40and there were others the
- 48:42the director of the Office of
- 48:44National Drug Control Policy,
- 48:45Bob Martinez,
- 48:46put an article out there was in
- 48:48newspapers all around the country,
- 48:50basically castigating us for this program.
- 48:52You know, this is a band aid.
- 48:55We're squandering away.
- 48:56The gains we've made in the hard
- 48:58earned war on Drugs quote unquote.
- 49:00On the other hand,
- 49:02there there were also moments of victory.
- 49:04If you want to think of it like that.
- 49:08Probably my favorite was when
- 49:10committee from the National Academies,
- 49:11chaired by an eminent statistician
- 49:13with the name Lincoln.
- 49:15Moses basically wrote a report that was
- 49:17largely approving of what we had done,
- 49:20an I,
- 49:20I guess,
- 49:21I felt that if someone named
- 49:23Lincoln, Moses was going to say this was OK.
- 49:27Didn't really go too far wrong.
- 49:33Thanks, Ed, anybody else want it?
- 49:36Comment on that question about.
- 49:39The most difficult challenges.
- 49:40At Yale and New Haven,
- 49:42those in those early days.
- 49:51I think for me.
- 49:54First of all, I confirm all the
- 49:56wonderful things that have been
- 49:57that we've done in New Haven.
- 49:59But given the fact that it.
- 50:0010 years into the epidemic
- 50:03and there was an behave and
- 50:05was so brutalized by HIV aids,
- 50:08I was disappointed that the medical
- 50:11school and the hospital would not
- 50:14more generous in resources. And.
- 50:18I thought that there would be more
- 50:20and had to set out to actually
- 50:22find sources and fight for them.
- 50:24So we did that successfully and
- 50:27convince people that this was.
- 50:30Had to be done.
- 50:31But I think it must have been very
- 50:33hard for Lisa and Ed and others
- 50:36to be in an environment in which
- 50:39although they were wonderful
- 50:41colleagues working together,
- 50:42the mainstream was still not
- 50:44comfortable with HIV aids.
- 50:59Well, Jerry, I would certainly
- 51:02concur with you there and I think
- 51:06as I politely alluded in my talk.
- 51:09There were significant challenges
- 51:10that that were all around us and
- 51:13they they weren't just within the
- 51:15medical school in the hospital.
- 51:17They were with the local newspaper that
- 51:20kind of badgered us on a regular basis
- 51:23for names of patients and what have you.
- 51:25There were all kinds of problems with
- 51:28state legislature people, so it was.
- 51:30It was a list,
- 51:32but I think we just said we have to put
- 51:35our heads down and make the best of
- 51:38what we have and keep trying to get more and.
- 51:42You know, every day you got
- 51:44rooted in in feeling negative,
- 51:46you lost ground on other areas.
- 51:48So I think we learned how to
- 51:51be a a positive crew together.
- 51:55Well, I think the issue of
- 51:57colleagues is so important.
- 51:58I think a lot of us said
- 52:00that and that's sustaining,
- 52:02and it's true with Covid also.
- 52:04We just have to have people to work
- 52:07with who are supportive and is that
- 52:09a lot of love among people who do HIV
- 52:12work because they see themselves.
- 52:16People.
- 52:20I have a question. If I may.
- 52:25So one of the sections of the exhibit is
- 52:28entitled Legacy and one of the images
- 52:30that's included is the Community health
- 52:33care van that remains in the service
- 52:35of Community all these years later,
- 52:37an I was just curious about what
- 52:40each of you thinks about that term,
- 52:42the visual legacy.
- 52:43What is the visual legacy?
- 52:45Aside from the van up of the early
- 52:48days of HIV and AIDS in New Haven,
- 52:51and it yell that we should be capturing.
- 52:54In this exhibit, what other images do you
- 52:57kind of carry with you that have lasted from?
- 53:01But the 1980s until now,
- 53:02what still resonates?
- 53:03What could we put up?
- 53:05What could we add to our
- 53:06exhibit to capture that legacy?
- 53:11Well, I don't speak what I would like to do,
- 53:15but won't is to include the
- 53:17faces of some of our patients.
- 53:20Because in my mind and in my thoughts,
- 53:23I think of so many of them still.
- 53:27Wonderful as I tried to portray.
- 53:33Ordinary people who had were who
- 53:35were really extraordinary in
- 53:36terms of courage and resilience,
- 53:38and learn so much from them.
- 53:41And there's so much a part of it.
- 53:44And because of stigma and privacy.
- 53:48We we don't do that,
- 53:49so that would make a tremendous contribution.
- 53:52I think if we were able to do that,
- 53:55we really should be hearing the
- 53:57voices of people living with HIV.
- 54:03Yeah, and I I would agree with Jerry
- 54:06when you ask me what's my visual
- 54:09image that comes to me it it generally
- 54:13revolves around the people we care
- 54:15for and yet we can't show those
- 54:18photos or or portray them visually.
- 54:21But I think you could do a very
- 54:23interesting audio collection where
- 54:25where you capture comments from people.
- 54:28And I think that would bring
- 54:31so much of this to life.
- 54:33I mean, we become translators.
- 54:36Um for them, and that's that's well meaning,
- 54:39but it's not always accurate.
- 54:43And it tends to be sanitized messaging,
- 54:45so I I think if there was an
- 54:47ability to expand the exhibit some,
- 54:49I might try to to capture some audio files.
- 54:53And I think it would be useful,
- 54:56and it might be people might be willing
- 54:59long-term survivors who've successfully
- 55:01lived with AIDS for long periods
- 55:03of time might be willing actually
- 55:06to participate in that way and tell
- 55:08their stories, and that would be.
- 55:11I mean, that would be very,
- 55:13I think, both courageous.
- 55:15But also, I think.
- 55:20Well, it will help people
- 55:21understand what it has been like.
- 55:27Thank you, I love that idea.
- 55:29And just to say the the
- 55:31online portion of the exhibit.
- 55:32By all means, we're going to
- 55:34continue to expand upon that
- 55:36because it's it's online.
- 55:37It's ritual, so we have endless space.
- 55:40So we very well may look into doing that.
- 55:43So thank you for that.
- 55:54I have another I don't
- 55:55want to be the only one.
- 56:02That comes to mind.
- 56:05So we as you know, have had a program
- 56:09in the prisons in Connecticut,
- 56:11but 10% of the HIV population
- 56:13is incarcerated on free day.
- 56:16For reasons that you might expect
- 56:18that people might be incarcerated for,
- 56:20but also because of racial
- 56:22issues and poverty.
- 56:26And I had the opportunity to visit
- 56:28a program that we had in Niantic,
- 56:31which is where the single
- 56:33women's prison is in Connecticut.
- 56:36And prisons are very eerie places
- 56:38and you go through signing your
- 56:41name with with invisible ink
- 56:43and multiple layers of doors and
- 56:46gates and all and you drive to new
- 56:48Niantic through this very pristine,
- 56:50beautiful New England town.
- 56:52And it really is and you come to the
- 56:56prison and you go inside and all
- 56:59of the women are black and Brown.
- 57:05It's very vivid, really.
- 57:10What can I say picture?
- 57:13Have hidden picture.
- 57:14Of the consequences of
- 57:16the HIV epidemic in women.
- 57:26Thank you.
- 57:40Darren, do you wanna close us out?
- 57:43I think we've reached the end of the hour.
- 57:45I know there are a few more questions
- 57:48that haven't been answered and I strongly
- 57:50encourage you to email us and we will
- 57:52share those with our speakers and and we
- 57:55appreciate your comments and questions
- 57:56and feedback as we move forward.
- 58:00So again, I want to thank
- 58:02everyone for joining us.
- 58:04Our speakers do an extraordinary
- 58:06job of reminding me of the courage,
- 58:09the advocacy and the hope they got
- 58:12many of us through this time period.
- 58:15I hope once we all can actually
- 58:18be in person that you'll come and
- 58:21see the exhibit in person I'm.
- 58:24I think being able to touch and feel has
- 58:27value within itself until that time occurs.
- 58:31Please go on the online website
- 58:33because you can see the exhibit.
- 58:36You can zoom in, zoom out and have
- 58:39the experience at your own rate.
- 58:42Again, thank you, thank you,
- 58:44thank you for being here speakers.
- 58:46Thank you so much for bringing
- 58:49our stories to life and I love the
- 58:52statement of learning from the past
- 58:54to help influence what we do today.
- 58:57And I think that.
- 58:59If the program on art in public spaces,
- 59:03if that's one of our values,
- 59:05one of our goals is to really
- 59:08use the walls of young School
- 59:10of Medicine as an opportunity,
- 59:12not just to showcase,
- 59:14but actually to teach and for people
- 59:17to learn and to create conversation.
- 59:19And I think this was an excellent
- 59:22example of that happening in real time.
- 59:25Again,
- 59:26thank you and have a wonderful evening.