One of the organizations on the Stanford campus that has always impressed me is FACE AIDS, a group of very energetic students who have taken …
Author: Ruthann Richter
Using cell phones to save lives
Got an old cell phone you'd like to toss? Stanford medical student Nadim Mahmud would gratefully take it and put it to good use helping …
Helping Rwandan orphans avoid HIV
Among the tragic side-effects of the 1994 Rwandan genocide is that so many children were left behind after witnessing the trauma of seeing many family …
One cappuccino please – hold the croissant
During a recent visit to the Cheesecake Factory in downtown Palo Alto, we couldn’t help but notice the large-print labels that tell customers they may …
HIV travel ban lifted – finally
This week, the United States began allowing HIV-positive individuals to enter the country for the first time in 22 years. This shameful policy prohibiting U.S. …
Trimming treatment for AIDS patients
I read the New York Times account of the president’s new AIDS plan, and all that came to mind were the images of people I …
How to best care for AIDS orphans in Africa
During my travels in Kenya, I met a toddler named Mary Maishon who at one time had been a starved bundle of rags. She had …
Dramatic new film on Kristof's search for social change
Last night I previewed a new HBO documentary, Reporter, in which New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof takes viewers on an astonishing journey in his …
Some sobering reflections on World AIDS Day
On World AIDS Day, I typically take time to reflect on the people I have met who have been affected by this ongoing crisis. They …
The girl who would be Queen
Queen died today. That is the latest bit of distressing news I received from friends in Kenya. She was a quiet little girl whom I …
South Africa finally comes to grips with AIDS
It was nearly a decade ago that I wrote a story about a protest by 5,000 scientists worldwide, including several at Stanford, against South Africa's …
Nothing without a face: Surgeon talks about landmark transplant
Famed transplant surgeon Jean-Michel Dubernard is flipping through slides of his celebrated patient, Isabelle Dinoire, the first woman in the world to receive a face …
An insider's view of health care reform
Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, says in a recent Q&A that inaction on health care reform is simply not an …
Skepticism and questions about AIDS vaccine trial
Yesterday I attended a fundraiser in Palo Alto for the Rotary's Child AIDS Project, where some national leaders in the AIDS fight expressed skepticism about …
Frustration turns to hope with AIDS vaccine
I recall three years ago, at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, hearing virologist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi of the Institut Pasteur in Paris question whether development …
Faculty consulting work: now on public view
Stanford School of Medicine is once again helping to set a trend among academic medical centers with steps to ensure integrity and transparency in its …