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"On December 1, 2008, Eva, Patricia, Melanie, and I went to the Junipero Serra Elementary School in Bernal Heights to give a class about HIV and AIDS. Mine was a 4th grade class,  and their teacher was Joy Larkin. I explained to them that there are different viruses, and one of them is HIV, which causes a disease called AIDS. They understood very well that the virus defeats our “army” of white blood cells, and they really liked playing a game with a ball (which represented the virus).
Then, I dressed a student as a scientist with gown, goggles, and blue gloves, and gave her some eppendorf tubes and falcons. Finally, before they left, the teacher asked them to write what they learned during the hour-long class, and these are some examples of what they wrote." Sara Pagans-Lista, PhD, Ott Lab
"On Monday, December 15, 2008, I had the opportunity and the good fortune to visit John
O’Connell High School in the mission district. I spoke to a combined group of about 45 students
that ranged in age from about 15 to 17 years old. Half of the group was from an 11th
grade chemistry class and the other half from a 10th grade biology class. The entire
group gave me their undivided attention throughout my presentation, which included an overview of the AIDS pandemic’s history and present status, HIV pathology and clinical course, an explanation of how my work fits into the fight against the virus and most importantly how they can protect themselves. They were very taken by the fact that they possessed an organ (the thymus) that produced T cells and that this organ lost the majority of its function at a relatively early age. There was an excellent question regarding HIV transmission by a mosquito. Mosquitoes do not actually inject any blood from previous victims when they bite you, instead they inject saliva which acts as a lubricant to facilitate feeding. Malaria is, however, a disease that is transmitted via the saliva of mosquitos.
All-in-all this was an extremely positive experience. I came away invigorated by the feeling that
my work is important and relevant to the community at large, not just to my scientific colleagues. I very much appreciated this opportunity." Aaron Middlebrook, PhD, Napolitano lab
"I visited a 9th grade class at Burton High School and gave a presentation first describing the global and local impact of HIV and AIDS. I discussed how this disease continues to afflict a
broad range of individuals from large African populations of young mothers, fathers, and
children to everyday, local San Francisco community members such as police officers,
firefighters, doctors, lawyers, and many others.
I next described how HIV infects and kills CD4 cells, the sergeant-master of our immune system
and that loss of CD4 cells opens the window for bacteria, fungi, and other viruses to infect
patients. The students were very curious why HIV chose CD4 cells as its target and one student
remarked, “If you’re losing so many CD4 cells, why don’t you just transfuse HIV-resistant CD4
cells back into patients?” It was very clear to me the class was engaged, thinking, and trying
to invent solutions to the proposed problems. My discussion sparked a creative discussion that
was marked with a youthful, energetic curiosity that reminded me of some of my first science
classes in high school. Commemorating World AIDS Day 2008 at Burton High School re-emphasized to me the importance of always engaging our youth in science through open, fun, but precise
discussion about the problems and challenges that face the medical and scientific fields today.
I am honored to have been a part of AIDS Outreach 2008 and hope that I may have sparked even
just one student’s enjoyment of science even if only for a day." David Lim, MD, PhD, Greene lab
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described HIV research that is taking place at Gladstone, and briefly described their own career paths in science. They ended with some exciting science directly out of their own lab books.