Catherine Wilfert

Last updated

Catherine Wilfert
Born(1936-07-26)July 26, 1936
Died13 September 2020(2020-09-13) (aged 84)
Education Harvard Medical School (MD)
Occupationphysician
Known forACTG 076 study of AZT reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV
Medical career
Institutions Duke University School of Medicine
Sub-specialties infectious diseases
Researchpediatric HIV disease

Catherine Wilfert (26 July 1936 - 13 September 2020) was an American pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases. She became a professor at Duke University School of Medicine and known internationally for her work in pediatric HIV prevention. After 1993, using zidovudine during pregnancy led to an estimated reduction of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the United States by 75 percent [1] and a 47 percent decrease in new HIV infections globally. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Catherine Wilfert was born in Inglewood, California. She studied at Stanford University. She recalled that one of her professors told her not to bother applying to Harvard Medical School. [1] In 1958, she graduated from Harvard Medical School as one of only five women in her class. [3] She did her pediatric residency at Boston City Hospital, in the early 1960s and interned under John Enders. [1] whom she called her "most influential teacher". [4]

Career

In 1969, Wilfert became a pediatric faculty member at the Duke University School of Medicine. Her research was in virology and epidemiology of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. In 1976, she became the division chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. [3]

Years into the AIDS epidemic there had not been any medication to treat HIV infection, but when zidovudine was approved, "Wilfert theorized that by reducing the viral load of infected mothers, she could diminish the amount of virus their babies were exposed to, thereby reducing HIV transmission from mother to baby." [1] In April 1991 the Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) of the US NIAID and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) and the National Agency of Research on AIDS (ANRS), France started the clinical trial of zidovudine (AZT) in HIV-infected pregnant women otherwise known as "ACTG protocol 076". The trial showed such a big reduction in the risk for HIV transmission to infants, that it was halted prematurely in 1993 [5] and later became the new standard of care, leading to an estimated reduction of mother-to-infant transmission of HIV in the United States by 75 percent. [1]

In 1996, she retired from Duke University and became scientific director of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in low-income countries Thailand, South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon, and Uganda. The "Call To Action" led to a 47 percent decrease in new HIV infections globally. [2] She retired from this position in 2010. [3]

Personal life

In 1971 Wilfert married Samuel Katz (pediatrician). She had two children and six step children. [2] She was an "avid gardener, seamstress, photographer and admirer of visual artists, her favorite being Georgia O'Keeffe." [1]

Related Research Articles

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The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple drugs that act on different viral targets is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). HAART decreases the patient's total burden of HIV, maintains function of the immune system, and prevents opportunistic infections that often lead to death. HAART also prevents the transmission of HIV between serodiscordant same-sex and opposite-sex partners so long as the HIV-positive partner maintains an undetectable viral load.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

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Elizabeth Glaser was an American AIDS activist and child advocate married to actor and director Paul Michael Glaser. She contracted HIV very early in the modern AIDS epidemic after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion in 1981 while giving birth. Like other HIV-infected mothers, Glaser unknowingly passed the virus to her infant daughter, Ariel, who died in 1988.

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Arthur J. Ammann was an American pediatric immunologist and advocate known for his research on HIV transmission, discovering in utero transmission and the risk of contaminated transfusions and blood products, and his role in the development of the first successful vaccine to prevent pneumococcal infection in 1977. He founded Global Strategies for HIV Prevention and was Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the UCSF Medical Center.

Julio S. G. Montaner, is an Argentine-Canadian physician, professor and researcher. He is the director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the chair in AIDS Research and head of the Division of AIDS in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and the past-president of the International AIDS Society. He is also the director of the John Ruedy Immunodeficiency Clinic, and the Physician Program Director for HIV/AIDS PHC. He is known for his work on HAART, a role in the discovery of triple therapy as an effective treatment for HIV in the late 1990s, and a role in advocating the "Treatment as Prevention" Strategy in the mid-2000s, led by Myron Cohen of the HPTN 052 trial.

Deborah Persaud is a Guyanese-born American virologist who primarily works on HIV/AIDS at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

HIV in pregnancy is the presence of an HIV/AIDS infection in a woman while she is pregnant. There is a risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in three primary situations: pregnancy, childbirth, and while breastfeeding. This topic is important because the risk of viral transmission can be significantly reduced with appropriate medical intervention, and without treatment HIV/AIDS can cause significant illness and death in both the mother and child. This is exemplified by data from The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): In the United States and Puerto Rico between the years of 2014–2017, where prenatal care is generally accessible, there were 10,257 infants in the United States and Puerto Rico who were exposed to a maternal HIV infection in utero who did not become infected and 244 exposed infants who did become infected.

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Yvonne "Bonnie" Maldonado is an American physician, pediatrician, and Professor of Pediatrics and of Health Research and Policy at Stanford University, with a focus on Infectious Diseases. She founded Stanford's pediatric HIV Clinic and now serves as Stanford University School of Medicine's Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Diversity.

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Peter Nicholas Kazembe was a Malawian pediatrician, well known internationally for his work in pediatric antiretroviral therapy and treatment of malaria. He was one of the first two pediatricians in the country and was often considered the "grandfather of pediatrics" in Malawi. He is credited with publishing over 250 journal articles in his field. He was the Director of the Baylor International Pediatric Program and an associate professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to this, he played a role in pioneering Malawi's pediatric HIV/AIDS care treatment guidelines, and was also the Director of Malawi's first HIV clinic and Chief of Pediatrics at Kamuzu Central Hospital.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Women of ID – Infectious Diseases Society of America". www.idsafoundation.org. 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Wilfert receives North Carolina Award for Science | Duke Department of Pediatrics". pediatrics.duke.edu. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "Remembering Dr. Cathy Wilfert - EGPAF". Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  4. Wilfert, C. (31 October 2009). "Catherine Wilfert". The Lancet. 374 (9700): 1493. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61893-6 . ISSN   0140-6736. PMID   19880007. S2CID   29802225.
  5. "Zidovudine for the Prevention of HIV Transmission from Mother to Infant". 43 (16). 29 April 1994: 285–287.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)