Gaynes

Robert Gaynes, Assoc. Professor of Infectious Disease, School of Medicine

Doctors Who Changed the Practice of Infectious Disease

“I was developing a book proposal when I met with Amy Benson Brown to discuss the proposal and a review that I had received from the publishing company I was considering. After a one-hour consultation, Dr. Brown made several suggestions regarding revisions of the proposal that the publishing company’s director later told me were responsible for the ultimate approval of the proposal.  A seminar hosted by the program on book contracts also was immensely helpful in navigating the contracting process which is quite different than publishing a manuscript in a scientific journal. “

Robert Gaynes
Assoc. Professor of Infectious Disease

About This Project: Doctors who Changed the Practice of Infectious Diseases.

Once declared “conquered,” infectious diseases have reemerged in our lifetime to devastate our modern world.  Newly emerged diseases, such as HIV, are changing the human landscape of entire continents.  Our most effective therapies, such as immunizations and antibiotics, require a complete re-examination in light of the failures of an AIDS vaccine formulation in this era of untreatable, antibiotic-resistant infections.  Where do we start?  We should look back to our initial advances in understanding infectious diseases.  Appreciating how major contributions were made by some of the greatest doctors in history can help us reconsider our approaches to the practice of infectious diseases. Climbing out of these crises will require painstaking efforts to develop new therapies and use them with care.  History has taught us that new therapies are difficult to find but the lessons from the innovative thinking of those doctors who made extraordinary contributions can help in the fight.