By Daily Press staff
The medical researcher who first identified the AIDS epidemic will give a free lecture Thursday, May 8 at Santa Monica College.
The lecture by Dr. Michael Gottlieb, entitled “Twenty Years of AIDS,” is part of SMC’s Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series, sponsored by the SMC Associates, a private community support organization that funds speakers and special programs on campus.
The talk will be held at 11:15 a.m. in Lecture Hall 145 of the SMC Science Complex, 1900 Pico Blvd. For information, call (310) 434-4003.
Gottlieb was catapulted to scientific fame with his 1983 paper, published in the Centers for Disease Control newsletter, identifying the epidemic. At the time, he was in his first research position as assistant professor of medicine at UCLA.
Despite the medical profession’s initial refusal to acknowledge the AIDS crisis, he pursued early immune deficiency cases and urged the publication of his findings. Since leaving UCLA in 1987 to open a private practice, he has devoted his career to treating AIDS patients and fostering AIDS research.
Along with actress Elizabeth Taylor, he is co-founder of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, a scientific advisor for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and a member of the AIDS Advisory Committee of the State of California.
Gottlieb has written two books and many publications on AIDS and has been honored with the Lifetime Science Award from the Center for the Study of Immunology and Aging. He is now considered one of the world's preeminent AIDS doctors and researchers.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2003. Read the original PDF.